Under the U.S. and European cycles, hybrid-matching fuel economy was reached with a look-ahead predictability of less than 60 seconds.
If the predictability was boosted to 180 seconds, the newly-intelligent car was 33 percent more fuel-efficient than when it was unconverted.
In their computations, the authors included factors such as the presence of "unintelligent" cars on the road that would impede the efficiency of the look-forward technology.
The study appears in Transport Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, a journal published by the Elsevier group.
The authors say the figures are useful contribution in the public-policy debate about fuel economy, which is also a key issue in the fight against greenhouse-gas emissions.
If simple and effective sensor networks can be installed in cities and cars, people who are interested in fuel-savings benefits will question the value of purchasing hybrids, given their hefty price tag, the paper suggests.
