How do modern gas cars stop and restart their engines so easily/quickly?

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I drive a slightly older (2012) truck and when I start my engine, it takes a couple seconds to for the engine to turn over. If I shut down and restarted at every red light, it would probably be annoying to drivers behind me. New cars can basically restart the instant you touch the gas. The delay is hardly noticeable. What’s different?

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4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It depends on the engine.

Some have a more powerful or durable starter that is designed to handle repeated start-stop cycles.

Others have an auxiliary motor that is a part of a hybrid system.

My Ram truck has a starter motor which is powered by the 12v lead acid battery that starts the engine during ignition. Once the engine starts running under its own power, it disengages. The engine also has a much more powerful motor that’s connected to the drive shaft and is powered by a 48v Lithium ion battery. This motor adds torque when needed, recharges the lithium-ion battery when braking, and starts the engine during start-stop cycles.

The start-stop is cycle is noticeably faster than on comparable trucks from other manufacturers that use the starter alone to start the engine after a start-stop cycle

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