Vexia Econav 480

Product: Vexia Econav 480
Website: www.vexia.co.uk
System Specifications: 500MHz dual core processor, SIRF Atlas IV receiver, 2GB Flash memory (128MB SDRAM), 4.3-inch 480x272 widescreen display, 74mm x 117mm x 11mm, 154g
Price: £179.99

IN A WORLD of ever-increasing petrol prices and a seemingly incessant need to find greener and more economical ways to live, a device such as Vexia’s Econav would seem predestined for success.

The “first ecological GPS in the world” is allegedly capable of cutting carbon emissions by up to 30 per cent, not to mention the amount that could be saved in fuel costs over a year, so we were anxious to take the 4.3-inch widescreen Econav 480 for a spin to see if its claims hold water. (Vexia also offers a similar, less expensive 3.5-inch Econav 380.)

Essentially this is a traditional in-car satnav with all the usual accessories, a choice of UK and Ireland or European Tele Atlas maps and a slim and lightweight design that certainly competes aesthetically with more mainstream companies in this field.

Obviously its ability to direct you from point A to point B, economically or not, is still of the utmost importance and we’re pleased to note that it’s very capable at this. A cold satellite fix was established in under two minutes from a car windscreen and setting up a route is very straightforward. Both voice prompts and directions shown on the map are extremely clear and the device is as accurate as might be expected.

It’s also nicely configurable and a range of options offer full customisation of the interface and route preferences. The Econav 480 uses many of the recent satnav developments that have bolstered rival devices and includes safety camera alerts, a lane assistant for major roads, text-to-speech for road names and junctions and a wide variety of points of interest.

There are few bells and whistles here though, and features such as media support, travel aides, an FM transmitter, TMC alerts and Bluetooth for mobile phones, all of which have helped rivals such as Tomtom stay ahead of the pack in recent years, are conspicuous by their absence – this is purely a navigation device.

The headline ‘Eco’ mode is of most interest here though, and this can be either viewed as a full screen display or as a cut-down version alongside a map. Despite what Vexia might have you believe, at its heart is actually a rather simplistic solution - almost overly so - that is initially configured by selecting the make and model of automobile from the comprehensive database available. This optimises instructions for a particular car and does add more weight to its claims, but we were a little dubious as to the overall impact on economy.

The system essentially tells you what gear you 'should' be in at any particular time on the road, and includes extra warnings to flag times when you may have pulled away too quickly or come to a stop too quickly, current speed limits - where available - and a colour-coded warning when they are breached, 'safe-following distance' and optimal speeds.

These are illustrated mostly by visual prompts on screen with an audible alert to notify you of the optimum gear. We have a few issues with this approach however, not least of which is the inevitable distraction of repeatedly glancing at the device to work out whether you’ve been driving efficiently enough, or what are all too often unwarranted gear change suggestions that, let’s face it, any experienced driver should have got to grips with to some extent by now anyway.

As the device isn’t capable of working out what’s going on in front of you on the road, it will often bark at you to initiate a gear change too often, which can becoming frustrating during rapidly shifting traffic.

Much of the other information is a little 'fluffy' to some extent as well. Most drivers should be aware of a safe following distance, a safe braking distance and excessive acceleration, and we would presume those who don’t conform are often unwilling to curtail their driving for what may, in a day-to-day sense, result in negligible savings.

It is possible to adjust the sensitivity of alerts based on your experience as a driver and we can see some value for those who are unsure how to drive economically in terms of learning how to improve efficiency, but this is a lesson that’s likely to be short-lived and most of it would be common knowledge to anyone who has taken the time to do a bit of research of their own.

Unfortunately we were unable to qualify Vexia’s claims of a percentage saving to any accurate degree, but the trip-computer in the car we used for the test, set to gauge fuel economy, suggested that gear-change indications aren’t quite as accurate as we’d have liked. For these reasons it’s difficult to imagine why the average user would want to leave this full-screen eco-mode enabled for a journey. Vexia argues that this would be a significant benefit during times when people don’t need directions. The stripped-down view shown alongside a map is a more realistic approach but it’s all too easy to ignore it and therefore we’d suggest that the potential savings suggested by the company are a little optimistic.

One nice touch is the ability to view reports on a daily, weekly, fortnightly, annual or 'most efficient journey' basis and though this effectively collates the sort of information you’d find on a trip computer, there’s also an efficiency percentage that can be used to judge improvement over time.

During our tests we replicated an 80-mile journey on varied roads both with and without the benefit of the Econav information and noticed just a 6 per cent increase in efficiency when using the device. There is a difference then, but it was a little distracting to have to constantly stay on the ball in terms of eco-driving, the purported lost art of efficient gear changes and smooth braking and acceleration. Of course this is rather subjective and it would be fair to argue that we’re clearly on the efficiency side of the fence anyway - with these fuel prices you can’t afford not to be - so others might see a bigger improvement in fuel economy.

In Short
We’re loathe to belittle what is clearly a well-thought out approach on the part of Vexia to improving driving economy via a satnav, but have to question its effectiveness based on the target audience. Those who are conscientious enough to want to tone down a pedal-heavy approach to the road but aren’t sure how to do so would do well to research a few basic rules before heading out, and those who see this behaviour as an unwarranted distraction are unlikely to stick with the product for long. There is an arguable benefit here as a learning tool but we think the main appeal of the Econav will be in its abilities as a traditional GPS, even if the premium involved in the Econav functionality doesn’t really compensate for its drawbacks. µ

The Good
Solid GPS navigation, nicely customisable, slim and attractive design.

The Bad
Econav functions may not appeal to all, few bells and whistles and no media functionality.

The Ugly
Can be an unwanted distraction on the road, but this is true of all satnav devices.

Bartender’s Score
7/10