The Online traffic light information system uses the in-car internet to link with the traffic light network to work out the automated traffic light change sequences in the vicinity. The system then alerts the driver on the speed required to reach the next green light.

If the driver is already waiting at a red light, the system will calculate and count down the time remaining until the next green light is scheduled to appear via a timer on the DIS. The system also interacts with the car's Start-Stop function to ensure the engine is switched on five seconds before the green phase.

Audi says the system can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 15%, and could save approximately 900 million litres of fuel if it were to be deployed throughout Germany.

The technology has already been showcased in a fully developed prototype system in an Audi A6 Saloon at the Consumer Electronics Show, including a demonstration on Las Vegas freeways, and the carmaker adds that it could be fitted to every Audi model in the range subject to the necessary government legislation.

Testing continues in Las Vegas as well as in the northern Italian city of Verona and in Berlin, where 25 Audi customers are driving cars fitted with Online traffic information that can link up to a total of 1,000 traffic lights in the city. A market launch is currently being analysed in the United States.

A spokesperson for Audi commented that fitting in with the necessary legislation is the main issue currently but that future implementation could take place in the US and Germany as well as elsewhere within Europe. They added that an update on implementation is likely before the end of the year.