This is an interesting idea, but I'm sceptical of the advantages.<p>"there is more Co2" is valid for cars burning fuel. But as soon as you recuperate (even in a hybrid) you might only have a fraction of the losses any more. Adjusting the speed more aggressively is possible, without breaking, with little loss. I totally agree that stop-and-go is annoying, but looking into the future, Co2 should not be a reason for the vehicles in 5-10 years when the research can be rolled out.<p>Is "slamming the brakes" still happening? Around here you have dynamic speed limit signs on the highway. In high traffic everybody then goes a little slower, but smoothly.<p>I suspect that if a road is loaded beyond max throughput, this method will also fail, even harder.
Let me explain: I remember a graph from communications theory. With improving error correcting codes in transmission, you can get a clean signal for even worse channel conditions. But once it fails you will not have a signal any more. The better the code, the steeper the cutoff. Whereas without in FM radio, the degrade in user experience is also gradual.<p>So the analogy goes like this: I would expect that you could possibly load the road with another 10% more vehicles. But if one day you have 15% more, the blockage will be even worse than before.
Could be worth simulating throughput for various loading situations.