A game-theoretic approach to EV driver assistance through ITS

The proliferation of electric vehicles is envisaged to become a reality, as they represent one of the major solutions to fossil fuel shortage and polluting emissions. One aspect of primary importance is the point of view of drivers, who aim at minimizing their trip time, hence the overall time that battery recharging may take. New generation of vehicles will be always connected, either using cellular or vehicular communications and they will be part of a widespread Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). Thus, dissemination of information on charging stations (with time-related parameters), or about which charging station to use, will significantly alleviate drivers' concern on the time needed to reach a destination. In this work, we investigate the scenario outlined above, by taking a game-theoretic approach. We account for the travel time towards charging stations, the waiting time there and the time for battery recharge, and analyze the role of ITS, as well as of the information it can distribute, in reducing the trip time of electric vehicles. Our study highlights the importance of a Central Controller that can not only inform drivers on the current scenario, but also give specific advice on the charging station to use. Interestingly, we show that drivers, being rational, will conform to such advice even if suboptimal.