Land Rover has taken another step forward in reducing its impact on the environment with the unveiling of the latest technology to be applied to its award winning Freelander 2.
The intelligent stop/start system, which will be fitted as standard on all diesel manual Freelander models, will help to cut CO2 emissions by over 7% from 194 g/km to 179 g/km. It will deliver a 10% improvement to fuel economy which equates, in a combined cycle (NEDC), to 41.5 mpg.
The stop/start system will be installed on all manual diesel Freelanders sold across the world, saving around 10m tonnes of CO2 a year.
The system turns off the engine when the vehicle is stationary and automatically restarts it when the driver is ready to move off. This prevents the engine from unnecessary idling, eliminates wasting fuel and cuts carbon dioxide emissions. Failsafe systems are built in to prevent usage when the battery power is low, during cold start conditions and when air conditioning levels need to be maintained.
The first vehicles to benefit from the stop/start system will be produced in early 2009.
The stop/start system is just one of Land Rover's integrated approaches to tackling the challenges of climate change.
Land Rover and Jaguar will jointly invest 700m in sustainable technology over the next five years, as part of Ford's multi-billion euro programme. This will include developing hybrid technology and the use of lightweight material.
In addition, Land Rover balances all its manufacturing CO2 emissions from its UK operations (and the first 45,000 miles of customer use in the UK) with the world's largest consumer offset programme managed by Climate Care.