The Eco-Log developed by the Essex-based Lysanda start-up company is aimed at operators of commercial vehicles, public service vehicles and car fleets to enable them to monitor how their vehicles are being driven and maintained, allowing them to make reductions in their operating costs, and to enable their vehicles to demonstrate compliance with emissions regulations.

Lysanda is looking for fleets to trial the product and has already had discussions with Tesco, among others.

The patented technology measures signals from a vehicle¡¯s on-board diagnostics system including load, engine speed, throttle angle, ¡®powertrain map¡¯ and engine temperature to work out actual emissions of CO2 and other pollutants at the tailpipe.

Lysanda claims its technology is more robust and cheaper than previous exhaust pipe sensor systems used on some heavy trucks and boasts an accuracy better than +/¨C 1% on CO2, validated by Millbrook Proving Ground.

The Eco-Log product on sale later this year will feed emission data back to the fleet manager¡¯s software via telematics reporting, but in the future the data could also be shown in-cab via a satnav screen or computer display so the driver could see the effect of their driving style on emissions in real-time.

Lysanda¡¯s commercial director Simon Harris said the product would sell for ¡°well under ¡ê500 per unit¡± as a card inserted into a ¡®host telematics unit¡¯ (or as a bolt-on box), and be available initially for diesel engines and CO2 measurement only; other emissions data and a product for petrol engines will be offered by the end of 2008.