Eco-driving at signalised intersections for electric vehicles

The effectiveness of electric vehicle (EV) on energy consumption reduction and traffic pollutant emission mitigation is highly expected for its high energy efficiency and zero-emission during running. However, there is a popular belief that the popularisation of EV is hindered by the cruising range limitation and the charging process inconvenience. The driving behaviours have an effect on EV energy consumption, which relates to the extending of EVs’ cruising range. Meanwhile, since the EV consumes lots of energy in urban road when approaching the traffic light, this study focuses on the study of EV eco-driving at signalised intersections with the support of cooperative vehicle infrastructure system technologies. First, by employing the chassis dynamometer test, a microscopic energy consumption rate model for different operation modes is presented. Then, based on driving behaviour analysis, an eco-driving model is established that provides velocity profile for EV eco-driving according to the current vehicle status information and traffic information, especially the signal phasing and timing information. Finally, the energy saving effect of the eco-driving model is fully evaluated with an example application. The results show that the eco-driving strategies advised by the proposed model have good performance on energy consumption reduction.