The `smart’ alternator fitted to the Ford Ranger was designed to cap the amount of charge being fed back into the vehicle’s battery. In effect, it meant that the battery was usually charged to a lower ...

Valeo (www.valeo.com) said its StARS micro-hybrid starter-alternator technology, part of the firm’s Powertrain Efficiency Domain, will be standard equipment on the smart fortwo mhd (micro-hybrid drive ...

That model Ranger does, indeed, have what’s called a variable-voltage or `smart’ alternator. The idea is that when the car’s main battery is fully charged, the alternator reduces its workload to save ...