Mazda has released a idle stop technology and more can be read about here.

I heard this on the news today and wanted everybody else to get updated. It was said on the news that this technology will go on sale for about roughly 400~450$. I havn't found any place that sells this or not even sure if it'll go on a different car but it would be great it I can have this on my fit!

 

is that a quick way to kill the battery?

 

shouldn't be bad unless you're gonna really be doing a lot of stop and go. I think it'll help if you're doing some city driving.

 

isnt this already in place in hybrids?

 

I thought hybrids switch over to electronic engine and back to gas at higher speeds. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

 

hybrids' gas engines turn off at idle too but i guess it looks like this system does have its differences.

 

Yup, Prius will shut off at idle unless it needs to charge the battery back up.

 

Not really.

As I understand it the car stops the motor with one piston at TDC, right before the power stroke.

Rather than cranking with the battery and electric starter, fuel is injected and combusted to get the motor started.

The end result is near instant engine start, along with fuel and battery savings, the only problem is that direct injection is involved and it only works with slushboxes, so it's not backwards compatible.