Save fuel by making cars talk to traffic lights, says Audi

Braking for red lights at the last minute could become a thing of the past if Audi has its way. The German car giant is trialling a new Travolution project in its home town of Ingoldstadt to see if cars able to wirelessly 'talk' with traffic lights could cut fuel waste and congestion.

Drivers in the experiment are alerted when lights are due to go green by a dashboard screen (pictured below). The same display also calculates the speed they need to maintain to get through the current green phase of the lights.

Theoretically, this means better traffic flow and less fuel wasted by engines idling at lights. Audi's not the first to tackle idling engines -- you can already buy cars from the likes of Citroen and BMW which automatically cut the engine out and in when you're in stop-start traffic.

Audi's pilot scheme involves modified A5 and A6 Avants and 46 adapted lights to discover if the concept has legs. As the project grows, 20 more cars and 50 further lights will be added.

While I love the hi-tech nature of the idea, I don't have high hopes for it in the wider world. I can see two big roadblocks: persuading government and local authorities to splash cash on adapting lights, and getting notoriously uncooperative car-makers to adopt a harmonious standard.

I'm waiting to hear back from the Department for Transport for its opinion on the concept -- and whether it can imagine piloting Travolution here in Blighty.

Drivers use this screen to see when traffic lights are changing