Honestly, not that bad of an idea, really. Since a lot of people are out there habitually disabling the feature on every drive, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the real-world emissions the car will produce when operated by real-world people.
Though I bet this regime’s reasons are much less noble. More likely just considering stop/start to be ‘woke’ and discouraging it for that reason.
(And, yeah, I understand why people do it. It’s a bit annoying feeling the car turn on and off. Your air conditioning can stop working at stoplights or when stopped in traffic. And some cars – especially the worse implementations – have a noticeable jolt and delay when starting again from a stop.)
All that said, I bet it won’t really change much. Manufacturers will still keep including it – not to meet emissions requirements, but because it makes their EPA-rated fuel economy better, and rated fuel economy is something that helps them sell more cars.
On top of that, it probably doesn’t help as much as just making the engine/vehicle more efficient overall. I think there should be more focus on hybrids in the meantime as well. As for ac, it would be nice if there were more electric AC systems in traditional vehicles. Near instant heat/cool and could be enabled with the engine off with a suitable battery for extended stops like when parked.
I am fine extending the 2035 date if it is unrealistic, but we need a goal. Range anxiety isn’t so much about range as it is about charging time to get back on the road as well.
As for ac, it would be nice if there were more electric AC systems in traditional vehicles. Near instant heat/cool
Electric A/C, maybe. But in anything with a gas engine, it really just doesn’t make sense to have electric heat, since the engine is already such a prolific source of free waste heat. And waiting a minute or two for it to warm up is a small price to pay for the massive efficiency of having all your heating energy being basically ‘free’.
and could be enabled with the engine off with a suitable battery for extended stops like when parked
Would only make sense in hybrid vehicles, IMO, since they already have a large battery that could be used for this.
Hybrid vehicles already make much better use of engine start/stop anyway.
But electric A/C and heat are already becoming fairly common on hybrid vehicles, I think – especially on plug-in hybrids or ones with an ‘EV mode’ that can drive on electric only for a limited range.