ESS: The Heart of the Matter

[RussJeep1]

I am not seeking a fight; rather understanding.

What is it that people find so terrible about ESS? This isn't to say that I'm in love with it, but I've never had a situation where I wanted the JL to move quickly from a stopped position, with the engine turned off by ESS, and wasn't able to have that engine turn on and be able to respond before my foot reached the gas pedal. Maybe you have. And maybe with age and a less than tuned engine such issues will crop up eventually.

I would hope that vehicles that have it also have more heavy duty starters to handle the strain on moving parts associated with the additional cranking. But if not, I'd see your point there.

For those who hate it, you have my respect. But what is so difficult about pressing the button to turn it off upon initial engine startup? There's lots of things we do post crank to our rigs, from adjusting the climate, to the radio, to maybe turning on the headlights or wipers. Maybe it's because of all those things that some don't wish yet another post crank task. Maybe you see it as an unnecesary imposition by government: after all it's you paying for the fuel. If so, I respect and appreciate that.

Still more its easy to defeat (ESS that is,) and if you don't like the warning lights that result, there's CANBUS (Tazers/Flashers etc.) product to address it: albeit I respect many of you don't like to have to pay for it.

For those that say that ESS should have been off by default off at startup, I wonder if such a setup would have allowed FCA to qualify for government mandated fuel economy regulations.

For those who think this is government imposing on personal rights, well it is. But there's no debating that such systems on the whole (maybe not for you and me individually) save gas, and reduce pollution. Government imposes a lot of stuff on us. Some I don't like. But things like insisting our kids get their inoculations before attending public school makes not only them safer, but increases the chance they won't infect others, particularly some in the population, due to medical reasons (e.g. Cystic Fibrosis patients), who can't take such shots. I completely get the limits of that analogy as it relates to ESS. I was just showing another example of how government imposes on us, but sometimes with good intentions, and in the case of shots at least: I believe (as do most) good outcomes.

(Autism and shots: not a single clinical piece of evidence to support that.)

As vehicles move to autonomous driving and hybrid or non-combustible propulsion systems, perhaps this issue will become moot. I just have this strange feeling that our kid's generation is going to see a vehicle's engine being on and idling at a stop light as the same degree of wasteful that my parents saw my keeping lights on in unoccupied rooms during the '70s energy crisis I grew up with, that again technology solved with systems that detect room motion or lack thereof to regulate the on/off state of lights.

I respect that some of you may have different thresholds than me as to what constitutes the overreach of government in our lives.

I respect that there's not one way to live life, and my priorities are neither right, nor necessarily yours.

So let's not turn this into a shouting match, but rather informed discussion.

Thanks.

Sponsored

 

[Todkavonic]

That’s a thoughtful and thought-provoking post, thank you. Speaking only for myself, I’ve grown accustomed to the ESS. I went from totally disliking it to indifference in about a week. I’m not to the point where I’d call myself an advocate of the technology and I certainly wouldn’t insist on it when shopping for a new car.
Regarding the strong emotions ESS seems to elicit, I don’t unserstand the vitriol either. There’s several similar issues: The Jeep beeps until you put on your seatbelt, it makes you click the button on the nav screen acknowledging that you won’t be distracted, and, if it’s less than 40 degrees out, it turns on the heated seats and steering wheel. There’s three things that are kind of annoying (the last requires 4 motions to disable on a stick shift JL) and yet I’m not seeing ESS-level angst.
The only issue I’ve had with ESS is that sometimes I pull into my garage and it shuts itself off. Then, if I don’t hit the shut off button and pop the door open, she’ll turn on again. Gotta stop with the clutch engaged. Oh well.

 

[jayteal]

I find it slightly annoying sometimes when I forget to disable it but overall, I kind of like the silence at long stop lights. I drive a M/T so I have to press the clutch anyways after stopping so it's no big deal for me. And sure, it saves me <1% in gas and helps FCA keep the government happy with trying to eek out a decent mpg so in short, I don't understand the strong emotions with hating it.

 

[FWB FL]

Last 2 posts are great and I let mine work and more so with air off windows down. Nice and quite.

 

[ChrispyJL]

Well, I am certainly not selling my jeep over ESS
I find it useful to turn it off when I start the jeep, and push it when I want it to engage.
More than a few times I have seen this scenario...stop at red light, ESS doesn't engage until 2 seconds before the light turns red.
IDK if there is a time delay between shut offs, or what.
My wife has noticed it a few times and even she said...well that's annoying.

Maybe the BSG system helps it work better? idk

It doesn't bother me, or maybe I just don't let it bother me.

 

[Sean L]

I find its easy to get along with in the situations that its called for, like long stop lights, or busy stop signs.

Use light brake pressure when you know it will be a quick stop, or heavier pressure if its a long stop. (For automatics)

Helps me save a little bit of fuel when I'm in town.

 

[WranglerMan]

I personally dislike ESS a lot, I live just outside Houston Tx and it stays pretty dam hot most of the year so having AC on is a must for me, anyway I have tried all the tips and tricks for keeping ESS at bay but it always seemed to win and shut down the engine and my OCD would not allow me to wrap my head around seeing the light on the EVIC with the hood switch disabled so I just pushed the switch all the time and about the time I thought I had it committed to muscle memory so to speak I would forget and it would shut down, I did not buy my Wrangler JLU to save gas as I knew the mileage going into it and since then I have lifted it and put larger tires on it so the mileage has gone done more but I’m ok with that.

lots of you have presented good views on ESS usage and dislikes but for me it’s not about having ESS it’s about having the choice so most if not all vehicles remember the last radio station or the last temp setting so why couldn’t FCA allow the Jeep to remember the last ESS setting, to me it’s pretty simple give the owner the choice as to whether we run with it on or off but don’t make us push a button every single time, I don’t do it with my radio or temp setting so why should I have to do it with this feature.

To those that like it that’s great, my son who just took position of a JLUR loves it and plans on letting it do it’s things but I dislike it so I turn it off with my Tazer along with several other things, this is what makes us all different is choice.

 

[47Jeepster]

... for me it’s not about having ESS it’s about having the choice so most if not all vehicles remember the last radio station or the last temp setting so why couldn’t FCA allow the Jeep to remember the last ESS setting, to me it’s pretty simple give the owner the choice as to whether we run with it on or off but don’t make us push a button every single time, I don’t do it with my radio or temp setting so why should I have to do it with this feature. ...

Well said ...

 

[jlroman2]

Nine months later and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I want to say I don't mind it but I find myself barely tapping the brake pedal to avoid the ESS from engaging more than usual. The other day, I thought I had just enough pressure to avoid the ESS while stopped but apparently I was still going at 0.0001 mph and ended up love tapping the car in front of me. so there's that.....

Sure it's nice to have it on while, let's say, the train is passing by, but then you have to make sure you're putting enough pressure on the brake to avoid disengaging it. TBH that's kinda exhausting when you can simply put the Jeep on neutral or Park.

 

[imthatguy]

lots of you have presented good views on ESS usage and dislikes but for me it’s not about having ESS it’s about having the choice so most if not all vehicles remember the last radio station or the last temp setting so why couldn’t FCA allow the Jeep to remember the last ESS setting, to me it’s pretty simple give the owner the choice as to whether we run with it on or off but don’t make us push a button every single time, I don’t do it with my radio or temp setting so why should I have to do it with this feature.

Quite simply, FCA wouldn't meet their model-wide requirements on fuel economy if it wasn't defaulted to the "ON" position. You as the final customer get the right to turn it off whenever you feel like it, but in order to pass, it has to default to on.

You want in, this is the price of admission this day and age.

 

[Shooting or Jeeping]

So the whole fuel economy debate boils down to regulation. The regulation applies to the model year, as tested. So, the solution? Wait until 2019 comes out and update the software to toggle on or off without a reset when you shut the engine down. Simple. There is no violation if it isn’t for the model year being sold.

 

[VictorChampion]

It doesn't bother me one way or the other. Coming from an auto that had it as well, I have gotten in a habit of just disabling it on start up. This morning was a rather cold morning. So at start up I had a lot of buttons to push. Push to start, push to disable ESS, push to turn on heated seats, push to turn on heated steering wheel and one more button to push. The one on the UConnect when I plug my phone in and it says audio options not available. Oh, and another button to get back to radio display. So a grand total of 6 buttons for pre-flight preparation. No biggie, gives the engine a minute or so to circulate fluids and I get to sit in my Rubicon like the first night I bought it and bask in it's glory. It's a push button world nowadays.

 

[RussJeep1]

I pull into my garage and it shuts itself off. Then, if I don’t hit the shut off button and pop the door open, she’ll turn on again. Gotta stop with the clutch engaged. Oh well.

I would like to see a situation, and I believe programmable, where when ESS kicks in (at least on automatics) and the driver moves to Park, the vehicle does not crank again unless it's taken out of park into a gear designed for mobility (i.e. not Neutral.)

I also admit to have not fully thought out implications of that change that may have justified why things were never implemented that way.

 

[Steevr]

https://www.smartstopstart.com/jeep-dodge-chrysler.html

 

[RussJeep1]

I personally dislike ESS a lot, I live just outside Houston Tx and it stays pretty dam hot most of the year so having AC on is a must for me, anyway I have tried all the tips and tricks for keeping ESS at bay but it always seemed to win and shut down the engine and my OCD would not allow me to wrap my head around seeing the light on the EVIC with the hood switch disabled so I just pushed the switch all the time and about the time I thought I had it committed to muscle memory so to speak I would forget and it would shut down, I did not buy my Wrangler JLU to save gas as I knew the mileage going into it and since then I have lifted it and put larger tires on it so the mileage has gone done more but I’m ok with that.

lots of you have presented good views on ESS usage and dislikes but for me it’s not about having ESS it’s about having the choice so most if not all vehicles remember the last radio station or the last temp setting so why couldn’t FCA allow the Jeep to remember the last ESS setting, to me it’s pretty simple give the owner the choice as to whether we run with it on or off but don’t make us push a button every single time, I don’t do it with my radio or temp setting so why should I have to do it with this feature.

To those that like it that’s great, my son who just took position of a JLUR loves it and plans on letting it do it’s things but I dislike it so I turn it off with my Tazer along with several other things, this is what makes us all different is choice.

I respect this. I also find that with my A/C on high that ESS doesn't engage. Low is a different story, and that's all you may need in the less hot months. I get that you'd like the switch to remember state, and this wouldn't have been rocket science for FCA to implement, but something tells me that Federal mandates would only let the ESS be factored into gas mileage ratings if it defaulted to on each time the rig was initially started up.

WranglerMan, sometimes I've tried to come up in my head with a switch (a piece of hardware of sorts) that sits on top of the ignition and ESS buttons , that delay presses the later after the former.

I bet that would sell given the price difference between that and the cheapest CANBUS solution.

I get that people may not like the government telling them to save their gas. I really do. The problem is it's not that simple. To make a long story short, economists have this thing called negative externalities, which basically amount to costs associated with an act, that its consumer doesn't pay for, at least directly. The classic one is the pollution associated with combustion engines. These same thinkers might suggest surcharges be added to the cost of gas (I know, we're already paying enough at the pumps) to not only dissuade gas usage, but promote alternative vehicles, all while using that surplus for various things like combating the pollution, or funding research to bring alternative cleaner fuels to market, that are market competitive faster.

I'm not getting on my green soapbox. I realize how inflexible fuel is to many of us, and how such economists may neither have it right, nor truly know what to charge in surcharge, or how to fairly charge for it.

Sponsored