Is it possible to have a toggle button for turbochargers (in cars)?

This is something I've actually considered suggesting to Ford, after reading reviews of their EcoBoost F-150 and Mustang. If it's possible and they elect not to do it, I'm wondering if I could do it myself to a turbocharged car.

It seems to me that the problem with turbo'd engines, and EcoBoost engines in particular since their entire purpose is to be fuel efficient, is that in order to get good gas mileage, you essentially have to play footsie with the gas pedal and avoid spooling up the turbos as much as possible. Otherwise that twin-turbo inline four might as well be a non-turbo V6 (for example), as far as mileage goes.

Would it be possible to put a toggle button or switch on these cars that turns the turbochargers on and off? That way if you're really worried about gas you can turn them off, and then turn them on when you feel you need the extra oomph, like the way AWD/2WD switches are in cars like the Ford Expedition (which I currently drive).

If the turbos were electric that would work but they are run off exhaust gases. I guess a waste gate that would by-pass the trubo completely and dump the gasses back into the exhaust would work but at what expense vs savings.

No, what your are proposing is not practical. I imagine almost anything could be done if you threw enough money at it but no one is going to pay that much money for an engine that would do that as you would never save enough money on gas to pay it off.

I guess that technically you could, but it's extra cost and complexity to the engine, and a bit pointless.

It's not the fact that the turbo is running that's wasting fuel, it's the fact the driver has a heavy foot. As you say, it you want economy, use a light foot. If you only use 1/2 throttle in a turbo charged engine you get pretty much the same result as full throttle on a non-turbo version

So a block of wood taped under the gas pedal (so you can only push it down 1/2 way) would be a much simple solution