EcoRouting for Performance Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

EcoRouting refers to determining a route that minimizes vehicle energy consumption compared to traditional routing methods, which usually attempt to minimize travel time. EcoRoutes typically increase travel time and in some cases this increase may have to be constrained for the route to be viable. While significant research on EcoRouting exists for conventional vehicles, incorporating the novel aspects of plug-in hybrids opens up new areas to be explored. A prototype EcoRouting system has been developed that takes in map information and converts it to a graph of nodes containing route information such as speed and grade. The route with the minimum energy consumption is selected as the EcoRoute unless there is more than an 8% difference between the minimum time route and the EcoRoute. EcoRouting has the potential to increase the fuel efficiency for powertrains designed mainly for performance, and we examine the sensitivity of the increased efficiency to various vehicle and terrain features. The reduction in energy consumption can be achieved without any modifications to the vehicle powertrain and therefore its integration is not critical to the vehicle development process. The simulation study conducted in the city of London generates an EcoRoute saves 5 % more fuel at a cost of only 3.6% increase in travel time