Apps have quickly become the next big thing in electronics since they were created a few years ago. People are now looking to be able to connect to things like their vehicles through their smart phones, and now Buick has announced the release of their new eAssist Fuel Efficiency smartphone games!
Apps have quickly become the next big thing in electronics since they were created a few years ago. Just last year Apple sold more than one hundred million iPhone and iPad apps. And studies are showing that the same customers who are growing more and more reliant on hand held technology are looking to integrate that technology into all aspects of their lives. People are now looking to be able to connect to things like their vehicles through their smart phones, and now Buick has announced the release of their new eAssist Fuel Effeciency smartphone games!
The games will be made available to customers absolutely free through both Android and Apple products. There are actually three games and they have been combined together into a single app for customers to download and play. The games are designed to be entertaining while still showing customers the advantages of the eAssist’s fuel economy.
“Consumers today want purposeful technology in the products they buy,” said Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of Buick Marketing. “Buick is offering exactly that with fuel-saving eAssist.”
The first game, Regeneration Road, is a game that focuses on the regenerative braking feature that eAssist has to offer. The regenerative braking feature captures the energy that would be wasted when a driver presses on the brakes and uses that energy to actually repower the vehicle’s battery when the car is ready to move again, thus saving otherwise wasted energy. In the game, the driver must drive their way through a course in a town and reach a destination as quickly as possible- but they have to be careful not to run out of fuel! There are even pedestrians on the way to the destination that get in the way and add a bit more difficulty to the game.
The next game, Roll and Boost, highlights the same mechanics of the eAssist by being focused on the energy that is saved from eAssist braking. The key to this game is focusing on battery management strategy. The point in this game is similar to the last, the driver has to make it through a course- this time in the country side- to a destination on only one tank of fuel. The trick in this one though is that the destination is the number one goal rather than speed, and conserving the energy from the brakes is incredibly important for that.
The last game is the Wind Tunnel Tester, a fun and exciting game that tests the effects of a wind tunnel right on your smartphone or tablet computer! The fun in this game is in allowing the player to be an automotive engineer! Players get to adjust the length and width of a car on the screen as well as other specific mechanics of the vehicle to make the car more aerodynamic. The more aerodynamic a vehicle is, the less that the components of the eAssist have to work to save energy for the vehicle.
And the eAssist is coming standard on all new 2012 Buick LaCrosses and the eAssist is an available option on the Buick Regal. The other important thing about eAssist besides the fuel saving braking techniques is the way that the gas engine can turn completely off when the car is not in motion. The energy that is gathered from the regenerative brakes is stored in the vehicle’s back-up battery.
“The driving force behind eAssist’s development was to make great vehicles like the LaCrosse and Regal even better,” said Dan Cottrell, General Motors assistant chief engineer for the eAssist powertrain. “With eAssist we can improve both vehicle performance as well as fuel economy.”
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