DETROIT -- General Motors is going all in on stop-start.
By 2020, nearly every GM light vehicle produced globally will have at least one powertrain combination available with the fuel-saving feature, which turns off the engine when the vehicle isn't moving.
GM spokesman Tom Read said vehicles with stop-start systems will have beefed-up absorbent glass mat batteries and tandem solenoid starters. Absorbent glass mat, or AGM, batteries are sealed and have greater efficiency than normal lead-acid car batteries. AGM batteries keep the electrolyte suspended and in constant contact with the batteries' lead plates. Tandem solenoid starters enable ultrafast and smooth starts.
Stop-start systems can boost fuel economy as much as 6 percent in city or high-traffic situations. Starting in the 2017 model year, the EPA will award credits toward compliance with corporate average fuel economy standards to automakers whose vehicles have such systems, which add around $300 to a vehicle's cost.