Earlier this week we talked about winter gas mileage and why the cold weather hurts your MPGs. Today, we’re talking about a series of electronics called the Kiwi PLX Gas Savers.
Kiwi's little MPG gas saver
Fact: In-dash fuel meters with instant gas mileage readings have been shown to improve gas mileage.
Oddly enough, most hybrid vehicles (with their super-efficient powertrains) have in-dash fuel economy displays. Most pickup trucks (with their super-inefficient powertrains) don’t have this feature. Seems sort of backwards, doesn’t it?
Recognizing that:
- There are a growing number of drivers out there interested in getting a more accurate measure of their gas mileage, and
- Instant fuel economy readings help people drive more efficiently, and
- People love cool little toys.
PLX Devices created the “Kiwi Gas Saver”, a funny little series of devices that are designed to help people save gas. They plug into your vehicle’s OBD-II port (very easy to access on most models), turn on and off automatically, and they give you lots of useful info…
The cheapest Kiwi PLX, the $89 Kiwi MPG, is a small digital gauge that displays your instant and average miles per gallon as you are driving. In addition to instant gas mileage, the Kiwi MPG can also display various temperature readouts, the amount of fuel used since your last fill-up (and how much is left), trip travel mileage, miles to empty, etc. What’s more exciting is that it can also read engine codes and clear check engine lights . Make no mistake – the Kiwi is not a diagnosis tool – but it can help you figure out which codes require immediate attention and which codes might be a minor issue (like a loose gas cap).
Kiwi's WiFi transmits vehicle data to your smart phone
The next level up is the $149 Kiwi Wifi, which works very similarly to the less expensive MPG…but instead of using a small LED display to give you info, it transmits information wirelessly to an iPhone, BlackBerry, or other handheld device. By sending this data to a powerful handheld (and by installing one of Kiwi’s iPhone or BlackBerry applications on your phone), the Kiwi Wifi can reveal almost everything about how your truck is running, with full diagnostics, data logging, and even power and torque graphs.
The Kiwi PLX Green is the fanciest way to improve gas mileage 3-5%
The top of the line Kiwi PLX is the “Green” model. It’s a more in-depth digital device that incorporates almost all of the functionality found in the other two Kiwi models, but it also includes a program that “teaches” you how to reduce your fuel consumption and carbon footprint while driving. Four metrics – Smooth, Drag, Accel and Decel – are actively monitored and displayed to you while you drive, and they’re used to calculate something called a Kiwi Score.
The higher the Kiwi Score, the better. The system also provides a number of lessons or “challenges” which attempt to instruct you on how to improve your fuel efficiency. The company claims that properly used, the device can lower your gasoline costs by at least 20% and as much as 33% out on the highway – all for the “bargain” price of $299.
Note: It’s important to remember when using these kinds of gadgets that there is more to driving that just fuel economy. It’s easy to get sucked into concentrating on the device and stop paying attention to what’s going on around your vehicle (safety first kids!).
Pros: The Kiwis are really easy to understand and they will pay for themselves at some point. The limited diagnosis features are a nice bonus.
Cons: It doesn’t work on all vehicles (most, but not all) and the little guy (the Kiwi MPG) isn’t easy to read in sunshine.
Bottom Line: Kiwi claims you’ll cut your fuel use by as much as 20%, but that’s optimistic. Nissan tested a similar system in their vehicles (called the EcoPedal) and found that it cut fuel use by 5-10%…and that was when it was paired with an accelerator pedal that pushed back against your foot! More likely, you’ll see a 3-5% savings in fuel.
Still, at only 3% gas savings…
15000 miles per year / 17 mpg = 882 gallons used
882 gallons x 3% = 26.5 gallons saved
At $3 a gallon, that’s about $80 a year. Not bad.
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Lucky for me My truck already has a Instant MPG setting. It does entertain the kids. I’ll stick with my Unicorn fart recirculator to help me save gas.