Start/Stop moving forward if EPA removes mandate

On the heels of the EPA director's mentioning the uselessness of the start/stop feature of American vehicles and the potential desire to do away with the mandate, would it be optimistic to hope that Toyota will give us an option to software disable Start/Stop if we so desire? I'd been meaning to look into the various rigs on the switch itself, but if the EPA lifts the requirement, would Toyota relent and give us the option to permanently disable it. Is it something that is even possible?

ETA:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a64745676/epa-fixing-startstop-tech-department-admin-says/

 

Assume you mean new vehicles going forward. Doubtful Toyota would do anything for existing vehicles.
If the aftermarket can do it, Toyota can do it better.
Could they? Sure.
Would they? is the question.

 

Start/Stop is great with the Hybrid. Wouldnt like it otherwise

 

Picked up my hybrid today. First time owning a stop/start vehicle. Doesn't bother me whatsoever. Very different system compared to the straight gassers, would bet the main complaints come from straight gas engines.

 

No big deal, cost me $20 to eliminate mine, works great since day one.

 

It is different for us hybrid owners. We don't have that little starter kicking in when we release the brake. We have a big electric motor that starts it at idle speed/rpm. It is almost unnoticeable. No loud whirr and no pinion gear kicking in. The only time the regular starter is used is the first time you start the truck after filling it up. I guess they do that just to insure it is working in case it is needed for as a backup.

 

I would guess a few things. The mandate would only last 3 years at most. Second, California would probably keep it which means car manufaturers if they want to sell in California would have to keep it which means they would all... keep it. Hard to go against the 4th largest economy in the world

 

I thought I would hate the feature, but it’s not that inconvenient. On my Limited, you REALLY have to to hard press the brake to engage it at a stop light. It’s easy just to light foot the brake and not have it shut the truck down. When I’ve used it though, it’s only been at red lights that I know take a minute or more to turn green. I’m not sure of the actual mpg benefit of using it but I’m only saying that it’s easy to ignore it if you want to.

 

I would not expect anything to change. These vehicles are sold globally. There is a massive amount of cost that goes into the development and implementation of this system. And, it could all change in four years.

 

Certainly happy my vehicle doesn't have that annoying feature.

All these mandates do is add unnecessary costs and potential failure points.

 

I like it because it’s providing a mode of power when the engine is off. When a stop light turns green I’m already half way across the intersection when the engine turns on, not waiting for it to turn on to move. Also if you’re on a flat road going 50 you can usually let off the gas for half a second to let the engine turn off and then can apply the gas again to let it drive in electric. It’ll go for 2ish miles before it has to turn on the engine to charge if you do it right. Not to mention it’s an electric A/C and I don’t have to worry about how hard I’m pressing the brakes or not.

 

I have the 3.4 gas motor, non hybrid. If I recall correctly on the hybrid when you take off from a standing start, the electric motor is used solely for drive up to approximately 18 mph then the gas motor kicks in. Doesn’t the starter activate at that time to fire the gas motor, or is there some kind of clutch system that fires it like push starting a manual transmission car ? Or is the gas motor electronically disabled under certain circumstances such as standing start..?

 

As easy as it is to use or not use the start / stop feature. I don't know why anyone would complain about the system on the 3rd gen tundra, other than you like to complain about things that are not really an issue just to complain.

 

it is not based on speed. It’s all power demand. I can manipulate to drive in all electric at 50mph in the right circumstances.
Idk how the starter works exactly but it’s very smooth and seamless. Never waiting for it and half the time can’t even tell when it’s shutting off or turning on. I was a skeptic but I love it

 

I drive my wife's new Venza (discontinued again....) and it has the start-stop feature, being a hybrid.
Honestly, I think hybrid has come a long way since the first Prius.

Back then I drove one, did not impress me, as the tech seems, rough around the edges and just overall not well thought out.
Even drove friend's BMW X1, and that start-stop nearly give me a heart attack when I stopped at the red light, thought I did something wrong and stalled the car or killed it (I was still driving manual back then so I thought the clutch went out or something)...

But now, I think with years of fine-tuning, Toyota has this start-stop on hybrid pretty much rounded up and honestly, we talked about if we get a next Toyota SUV, it will have to be a hybrid, not only to save some gas while sitting in traffic (which is known in Houston), but overall the electric to gas to electric switch over is just so smooth now.

And yes, the hybrid electric motor is a good low speed/rpm starting, not to be waiting for gas engine to kick in which could result in a bit of a delay. Hybrid just, rolls, and then kicks in.

However, I am still learning how to service a hybrid vehicle, oil change is one thing, I am not so sure of the others, wouldn't touch the batteries, but am not sure if any other maintenance schedule/item(s) would be any different....

 

No the starter doesn't activate. Once the electric motor is being used to take off it actually is used to start the engine. The "real" starter with the bendix is not used to start the engine. It is there for backup.

 

$24 Auto Idle Stop Start Eliminator/Disabler/Disable/Delete/Canceller, Compatible with Toyota Tundra 2022-2024 and GR Corolla IMT 2023-2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CM97RBKF

and... done.

 

I've been in vehicles where it shuts the car off automatically at a light. Yes, that is annoying AF!!
But on my '25 (non-hybrid), you have to press the brake HARD to engage it to shut off the truck, so it's not as automatic as it sounds. It's very easy to just keep the truck running if one wants to, which I think is a very good compromise.

 

If peoples cars are off & the light turns green, they may just need a bit of a push.

 

But you do still have that "Warning" light lit up like there is something wrong. They should change it so that the Auto-Stop indication only comes on when it's enabled and be Green (or Gray) instead of Amber.

 

Yes, I do that in mine as well but then you still have the issue of the engine stopping (and most of the time immediately restarting) whenever you shift into park. Not to mention the amber "warning" light as I've already mentioned.

 

My driving style is such that the engine rarely shuts off at stop signs/lights but the shutting off randomly when placed into park is a head scratcher.

 

It only does it if the Auto-Stop is left on. Park is the equivalent of mashing the brake hard when stopped. What's really stupid is that 90% of the time the truck immediately restarts because I guess it thinks the battery is too low for the amount of electrical draw. Toyota definitely needs to fix the software on this issue. It's just adding extra wear to the engine.

 

Mine is totally random on the park thing. Some times it does most of the time it doesn't. Agree it would be a nice fix to have but won't hold my breath.

 

I don't complain as much as curse when I forget to turn this stupid feature off. If I can't make it routine maybe I'll get one of the auto switches that turns it off for me.

 

my wife's hybrid Sienna has it, its not bad

I CANT STAND IT on my non hybrid tundra, its on the pre-flight checklist to turn that off every time

 

one of my favorite things about it that I wish it did more of is…..

when you first start the truck. If you put it in drive within the first 2-3 minutes of starting it. It will use the hybrid battery for more power instead of spooling up the turbos. It won’t use the turbos until it’s warmed up. It will only use the hybrid power that way if the battery is too charged which is rare or when the truck is just started. I wish it was a little more liberal in its battery deployment.