Eco-driving control for connected and automated electric vehicles at signalized intersections with wireless charging

Journal article, 2021

Electric vehicles have been well recognized by many as a solution to reduce greenhouse emissions, improve mobility, and decrease energy consumption in the transportation system. In this paper, we propose a novel wireless charging scheme for electric vehicles. The proposed scheme deploys partial wireless charging lane to intersections, so as to utilize the slow movement of vehicles at traffic lights for recharging. Furthermore, an eco-driving control strategy for electric vehicles at intersections with wireless charging, i.e., W-eco-driving, is developed, aiming to decrease the total energy consumption and increase traffic efficiency. With the aid of connected and automated vehicles technology, driving and surrounding data are accessible in real-time. Then electric vehicles can be controlled using the W-eco-driving strategy accurately. The proposed strategy is finally validated based on a specific intersection configuration. Both single electric vehicle control and electric vehicle platooning are discussed in test examples. We also investigate the influences of wireless charging power, location and length. Numerical results show that the wireless charging scheme with W-eco-driving is able to increase the driving range and decrease the travel cost simultaneously. The total travel cost can be saved up to 16% by following W-eco-driving. We further provide some suggestions about the construction of wireless charging lanes in the vicinity of signalized intersections. Compared with the pursuit of a long wireless charging lane, it is more important to put it in a proper position in the early stage of construction.