ASK OUR GREEN TRANSPORTATION EXPERTS!

April 4, 2008

Chuck — I ran the idea by several experts who have vast amounts of knowledge and experience with batteries, auto mechanics and general transportation technology. The adamant reactions varied from "nutty" to "no place in reality" to "very dangerous." Laughs aside, the latter is the most imporant point. It's dangerous to tinker with a battery like that, especially with the acid. Don't try this at home.

Although you might think it’s easier on your car to let it sit and gently warm up, doing so is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it does indeed waste gas.

The vast majority of cars on the road today use electronic fuel injection. When your car’s engine is cold, the computer tells the fuel injectors to stay open longer, allowing more fuel into the engine to help it run cold. As the engine warms up, the injectors let in less fuel and everything returns to normal, so to speak.