A comparative study of energy-efficient driving strategy for connected internal combustion engine and electric vehicles at signalized intersections

This observational study explores the effect of adaptive cruise control (ACC) on energy consumption in electric vehicles (EVs) and contrasts the findings with prior research on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Using a large real-world driving dataset collected in 2024, we employ statistical methods and show that ACC engagement results in a penalty of +6.81 watt-hours per kilometer (Wh/km) in energy consumption, a 2.5\% increase over the fleet-level average of 275 Wh/km. This penalty is smaller in absolute terms than the +24.20 Wh/km penalty observed in ICE vehicles, primarily due to the superior efficiency of EV powertrains and the mitigating role of regenerative braking. However, in percentage terms, the penalty for EVs is larger than for ICE vehicles (+2.0\%) compared to their fleet baselines, which suggests that ACC systems are less optimized for EVs and disrupt their efficiency more than they do for ICE vehicles. We also show that regenerative braking efficiency varies significantly between ACC ON and OFF modes, with human drivers (ACC OFF) achieving higher efficiency in scenarios with low starting speeds and large decelerations. However, when braking conditions match, ACC marginally outperforms human drivers across most regions of the speed-deceleration map. This research provides critical insights into the interplay between energy-efficient technologies and driver-assistance systems, and highlights the need to optimize automation algorithms to leverage the unique characteristics of EV powertrains, maximize energy recovery, and support next-generation energy management solutions in transportation.

As many countries transition to electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce tailpipe emissions from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), both vehicle types continue to generate non-exhaust particulate matter (PM), including tire wear, brake wear, road surface wear, and particularly road dust resuspension. Among these, road dust resuspension is a major contributor to non-exhaust PM. While factors such as vehicle weight and drivetrain configuration have been extensively studied in fleet-level research, direct comparisons between ICEVs and EVs of the same model have not been explored. This study investigates the effects of drivetrain, vehicle weight, and payload on road dust resuspension emissions from ICEV and EV models. Two experimental approaches were employed: (1) acceleration from 0 to 60 km/h, and (2) a simulated real-world driving cycle (RDC). Each test was conducted under both light and heavy payload conditions. The results show that the EV consistently emitted more PM than the ICEV during both acceleration and RDC tests, based on factory-standard vehicle weights. Under identical vehicle weight conditions, the EV demonstrated higher PM resuspension levels, likely due to its higher torque and more immediate power delivery, which increases friction between the tires and the road, particularly during rapid acceleration. Both vehicle types exhibited significant increases in PM emissions under heavy payload conditions. These findings underscore the importance of addressing non-exhaust emissions from EVs, particularly road dust resuspension, and highlight the need for further research into mitigation strategies, such as vehicle lightweighting.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The rising demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has pushed automakers to prioritize visual brand consistency across both EVs and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. A main design factor which is influenced by this trend is the front grille. In order to achieve uniform aesthetic looks, passenger car manufacturers often reduce the front grille openings and limit airflow. This closed grille style is common in electric vehicle. However, this creates challenges for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with snorkel-type air intake systems, leading to reduced airflow and higher temperatures in the engine bay and intake air which eventually gets sucked in the engine resulting in low volumetric efficiency.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Maintaining a cooler intake air is vital for ICE performance. Adjusting snorkel position and airflow patterns in low temperature zones ensures the engine receives air at low temperatures. This improves the combustion efficiency, throttle response and eventually it reduces the risk of knock. This study emphasizes the need to control intake air temperature in such a way that the air intake system supports to meet performance and emissions targets.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">In our study, we use simulation tools such as computation fluid dynamics (CFD) and experiments in order to demonstrate that the ICE vehicle grille design having restricted air flow which are similar to the electric vehicles, increases the air temperature that enters into the snorkel of air intake system. This pre-heated air that enters into engine reduces its efficiency, power output and also might eventually affect the emissions. The findings in our study quantifies the thermal penalty that are linked to this design standardization.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">In order to overcome these issues, the study recommends tailored front-end module thermal management strategies for ICE vehicles particularly for air intake system. The approach optimizes airflow and minimizes heat gain in snorkel of air intakes and hence preserving engine performance without sacrificing the visual consistency between EV and ICE models.</div></div>

Factors influencing global transportation electrification: Comparative analysis of electric and internal combustion engine vehicles

Well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions of electric versus combustion vehicles from 2018 to 2030 in the US

The Aerospace Corporation, in support of the Department of Energy (DOE) Electric Vehicle Project, has undertaken two activities related to defining the possible characteristics of the mid-1980s electric passenger car. The first activity, an investigation of the potential performance and cost characteristics through computer modeling, was supported by the Argonne National Laboratory, General Research Corporation, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and NASA/Lewis Research Center. That investigation was restricted to a 4-passenger, all-electric car similar to the DOE Electric Test Vehicle-One (ETV-1) developed by the General Electric Company and the Chrysler Corporation. The study effort was completed in February 1981. The second effort currently underway is an electric vehicle (EV) applications research study that is part of a government/industry collaborative effort. Based on the computer modeling results, the state of technology for the mid-1980s, 4-passenger electric car could achieve an urban driving range of 80 to 100 miles with acceleration competitive with a comparable-size, diesel-powered car. Top speeds and ramp accelerations compatible with highway driving also appear achievable. These conclusions assume that the batteries being developed through DOE funding--improved lead-acid, zinc/nickel oxide, iron/nickel oxide, and zinc/chloride--will achieve their currently established performance goals in mass production. The purchase price of a 4-passenger electric car with a 100-mile range is projected to be at least 50 percent higher than that of a comparable internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. However, life-cycle costs for a 4-passenger, 100-mile-range car are predicted to range from slightly lower to moderately higher than those of a comparable ICE vehicle depending on petroleum costs and the cost and cycle life of the batteries. The eventual cost and performance of the mid-1980s electric car will be influenced greatly by the trade-offs associated with battery weight and cost versus vehicle payload and range requirements. In general, cost and performance results tend to indicate the desirability of pursuing the development of a 2-passenger car and/or a less than 100-mile-range car if the market for these types of vehicles appears sufficiently attractive. For the second effort, The Aerospace Corporation will subcontract an electric vehicle applications research study to identify the vehicle attributes most likely to influence consumer purchasing decisions. The Statement of Work for this study was prepared by a Steering Committee composed of representatives of the major domestic automobile manufacturers, the EV supply industry, the electric utility industry, and other interested organizations. As part of this effort, it was necessary to define the characteristics of the mid-1980s electric car and its expected competition in that time frame. Vehicle characteristics were selected based on a consensus of the Steering Committee members. The projected characteristics of the baseline electric car defined by the Steering Committee agree quite closely with those predicted in the modeling work mentioned earlier. For the conduct of the study, it has been predicted that the baseline electric car will achieve a 75-mile range, accelerate somewhat more slowly than a comparable ICE vehicle, and perform satisfactorily on highways. The monthly ownership and operation cost (at current gasoline prices) and purchase price are estimated to be 30 and 50 percent higher, respectively. Assuming a more optimistic battery purchase price and replacement rate, the vehicle monthly cost is predicted to be equal to that of a comparable-size ICE vehicle. Competitive vehicles in the mid-1980s are assumed to be powered by gasoline, diesel, or an alternative fuel such as methanol. The fuel economy of these vehicles in urban driving is estimated to be 40 to 50 mpg, and the acceleration is projected to be similar to or somewhat slower than today's ICE vehicle. It is anticipated that the results of the applications study will help focus future DOE and industry research and development efforts on those areas that will most satisfy consumer needs.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The need to control global warming by regulating automotive emission levels has led to a lot of changes in the policies of different countries globally, specifically the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). More recently, the governments have been strongly pushing the integration of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the market to replace the conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles for CO₂ emissions reduction, with the enforcement of 50% EV sales by 2030 in the US and complete 100% by 2035 in the EU for passenger cars. However, these policies are misleading by considering EVs as zero emission vehicles, as there is no such technology yet available that has zero emissions during its lifecycle. During the manufacturing phase, any vehicle produced gives out emissions, with EVs emitting even higher than the conventional ICE vehicles with their battery manufacturing. Further, during the use phase, there might be no Tank-to-Wheel emissions from the EVs due to zero tailpipe emissions, but they do have very high Well-to-Tank emissions from the electricity generation needed to recharge the batteries. On the other hand, hybridization is also a promising way for CO₂ emissions reduction. Using synthetic e-fuels, hybrids can have emission reductions much higher than using conventional fuels or even when compared to EVs on life cycle basis. Hence, in this study, we have evaluated the life cycle CO₂ emissions reduction potential with electric and e-fueled ICE vehicle as two different cases, varying their sales from 0 to 100%, according to the set EU and US targets, for the total car fleet of both the countries. The evaluation is done with 0D numerical simulations performed on GT suite, for 30 different drive cycles consisting of 10 urban, 10 sub-urban and 10 highway cases with GPS based vehicle speed information, for US as well as EU separately. Results shows that e-fueled ICE and e-fueled hybrid vehicles have greater CO₂ emissions reduction potential than EVs.</div></div>

PurposeTo model and analyze the dynamic response of an electric vehicle (EV) suspension system and compare it with a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, focusing on passenger comfort and safety.Design/methodology/approachBoth vehicles are modeled as quarter car (two DOF for EV) and half car (four DOF for EV and five DOF for ICE). The analysis includes vehicle–road and vehicle–bridge interaction dynamics using MATLAB Simulink and the Runge–Kutta method, incorporating various road profiles and disturbances.FindingsThe EV’s suspension system outperforms the ICE vehicle in ride comfort and road holding across various conditions, with better responses to road disturbances and reduced peak overshoot. These results highlight the advantages of EV designs in enhancing overall vehicle dynamics.Originality/valueThis study makes several novel contributions, including the mathematical modeling of a half-car model for an ICE vehicle that incorporates secondary unbalanced forces of the engine. It also explores a complex vehicle–bridge interaction system, considering both road roughness and sinusoidal bumps. Furthermore, it compares the dynamic responses of an equivalent EV model traversing this complex bridge, with a conventional ICE vehicle, providing new insights into the distinct characteristics of EV suspensions.

Are electric vehicles more efficient? A slacks-based data envelopment analysis for European road passenger transportation

This report presents the results of a study of the future of electric passenger vehicles. The study involved three tasks: developing models of supply and demand for electric vehicles, and projecting vehicle sales and stock of electric vehicles for the period 1985 to 2000, as well as the impact of these vehicles on utility loads. The supply model which includes an Electric Vehicle Design Model, calculates factors such as weight, battery size, and cost of a vehicle from user-supplied design characteristics. A key variable is the price of electric vehicles over the period 1985 to 2000. The price concept employed here is that of ''full'' price for owning and operating a vehicle. In the next stage of the analysis, calculation of electric vehicle sales and stocks, the ''hedonic'' approach is adopted which states that consumers' demand for a good is a derived demand for a bundle of characteristics (comfort, cost, performance, and the like) provided by the vehicle. Using this approach, a demand model was developed that forecasts the future stock and sales of electric vehicles and their competitors--internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. The final step in the analysis is the calculation of electricity loads and air quality impacts on a national basis for the period 1985 to 2000, and also for New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. By end of the century, the models predict that approximately 141 million passenger vehicles will be on the road, and that 11 to 13 million of these will be electric vehicles, incorporating an advanced battery. This projection, of course, depends on a variety of factors, particularly on the relative full prices of electric and ICE vehicles. (ERA citation 03:052948)

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">This study introduces the Total Cost of Ownership per Unit Operating Time (TCOP) as a novel indicator to assess the economic impact of vehicle durability. A comprehensive analysis is conducted for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in light- and heavy-duty scenarios. The results show that in HDVs, the advantages of low prices for hydrogen and electricity are fully demonstrated due to their high durability. In contrast, for LDVs, the purchase cost plays a much larger role, accounting for 68% of the total cost, indicating a significant difference between vehicles. Improving durability can significantly enhance the competitiveness of FCVs. For FCVs, increasing the durability from the current levels of 150,000 km for LDVs and 600,000 km for HDVs to 20,8500 km and 1,122,000 km, respectively, would align their TCOP with that of current ICEVs. A sensitivity analysis shows that for HDVs. The focus should be placed on improving the durability of fuel cell systems in order to reduce fuel costs over the long term, while for LDVs, the key to reducing TCOP is to reduce the manufacturing cost of the whole vehicle. By 2040, assuming that the durability of FCVs is improved to the same level as ICEVs and that the cost of fuel cells continues to fall, FCVs will be more competitive than EVs and ICEVs in terms of long-term operating costs.</div></div>

The challenge of meeting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards of 2025 has resulted in the development of systems that utilize alternative energy propulsion technologies. To date, the use of solar energy as an auxiliary energy source of on-board fuel has not been extensively investigated, however. The authors investigated the design parameters and techno-economic impacts within a solar photovoltaic (PV) system for use as an on-board auxiliary power source for the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles (EVs). The objective is to optimize, by hybridizing, the conventional energy propulsion systems via solar energy based electric propulsion system by means of the on-board PVs system. This study is novel in that the authors investigated the design parameters of the on-board PV system for optimum well-to-tank energy efficiency. The following design parameters were analyzed: the PV device, the geographical solar location, thermal and electrical performances, energy storage, angling on the vehicle surface, mounting configuration and the effect on aerodynamics. A general well-to-tank form was derived for use in any other PV type, PV efficiency value, or installation location. The authors also analyzed the techno-economic value of adding the on-board PVs for ICE vehicles and for plug-in EVs considering the entire Powertrain component lifetime of the current and the projected price scenarios per vehicle lifetime, and driving by solar energy cost ($ per mile). Different driving scenarios were used to represent the driving conditions in all the U.S states at any time, with different vehicles analyzed using different cost scenarios to derive a greater understanding of the usefulness and the challenges inherent in using on-board PV solar technologies. The addition of on-board PVs to cover only 1.0 m2 of vehicle surfaces was found to extend the daily driving range to up to 2 miles for typical 2016 model vehicles, depending upon on vehicle specifications and destination, however over 7.0 miles with the use of extremely lightweight and aerodynamically efficient vehicles in a sunny location. The authors also estimated the maximum possible PV installation area via a unique relationship between the vehicle footprint and the projected horizontal vehicle surface area for different vehicles of varying sizes. It was determined that up to 50% of total daily miles traveled by an average U.S. person could be driven by solar energy, with the simple addition of on-board PVs to cover less than 50% (3.25 m2) of the projected horizontal surface area of a typical mid-size vehicle (e.g., Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i-MiEV). Specifically, the addition of the proposed PV module to a 2016 Tesla Model S AWD-70D vehicle in San Diego, CA extended the average daily range to 5.2 miles in that city. Similarly, for the 2016 BMW i3 BEV in Texas, Phoenix, and North Carolina, the range was extended to more than 7.0 miles in those states. The cost of hybridizing a solar technology into a vehicle was also estimated for current and projected prices. The results show for current price scenario, the expense of powering an ICE vehicle within a certain range with only solar energy was between 4 to 23 cents per mile depending upon the vehicle specification and driving location. Future price scenarios determined the driving cost is an optimum of 17 cents per mile. However, the addition of a PV system to an EV improved the economics of the system because of the presence of the standard battery and electric motor components. For any vehicle in any assumed location, the driving cost was found to be less than 6.0 cents per mile even in the current price scenario. The results of this dynamic model are applicable for determining the on-board PV contribution for any vehicle size with different powertrain configurations. Specifically, the proposed work provides a method that designers may use during the conceptual design stage to facilitate the deployment of an alternative energy propulsion system toward future mobility.

Eco-driving is a key strategy for reducing energy consumption and emissions in electric vehicles (EVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. However, research gaps remain regarding its effectiveness across different driving environments, vehicle types, transmission systems, and contexts. This research evaluates eco-driving efficiency in urban and interurban settings, comparing small (Caceres) and large (Madrid) cities and assessing EVs ICE with direct, manual, and automatic transmissions. The authors conducted a large-scale driving experiment in Spain, with over 500 test runs across different road types. Results in the large city show that eco-driving reduces energy consumption by 30.4% in EVs on urban roads, benefiting from regenerative braking, compared to 10.75% in manual ICE vehicles. Automatic ICE vehicles also performed well, with 29.55% savings in local streets. In interurban settings, manual ICE vehicles achieved the highest savings (20.31%), while EVs showed more minor improvements (11.79%) due to already optimized efficiency at steady speeds. The small city showed higher savings due to smoother traffic flow, while single-speed transmissions in EVs enhanced efficiency across conditions. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing eco-driving strategies and vehicle design. Future research should explore AI-driven eco-driving applications and real-time optimization to improve sustainable mobility.

Author(s): Muehlegger, Erich; Rapson, David | Abstract: This research project explores the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market, including both Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and the sociodemographic characteristics of purchasing households. The authors use detailed micro-level data on PEV purchase records to answer two primary research questions. Their results confirm that low-income households exhibit a lower share of PEV purchases than they do for conventional, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Households with annual income less than $50,000 comprise 33 percent of ICE purchases and only 14 percent of PEVS. By comparison, high-income households earning more than $150,000 annually comprise only 12 percent of ICE purchases and 35 percent of PEV purchases over their sample period. Similarly, unsurprising patterns can be seen across ethnicities. For example, non-Hispanic Whites represent 41 percent of ICE purchases but 55 percent of PEV purchases, as compared to Hispanics (38 percent of ICE and 10 percent of PEVs) and African Americans (3 percent of ICEs and 2 percent of PEVS). These differences naturally raise questions about barriers to PEV adoption among low-income and minority ethnic populations. By comparing outcomes in the ICE, hybrid, and PEV markets across income and ethnic groups, the authors are able to test whether price discrimination and barriers to market access are higher in PEV markets for low-income and minority ethnic groups. The authors find that, overall, they are not, although there are mixed results for the used PEV market. In general, non-white, low-income populations face higher prices in the used PEV market, relative to a baseline, than they do in the new PEV market. While some people travel farther to buy used PEVs than they do to buy used ICE vehicles, there is not a pattern that would indicate systematic discrimination (e.g. Hispanics travel farther to buy used PHEVs but less far to buy used BEVs). While the authors admit that their empirical approach cannot control for all potential vehicle composition effects, the authors view their results as being most consistent with a market that provides access to all ethnicities and income groups.View the NCST Project Webpage

Lifecycle carbon footprint comparison between internal combustion engine versus electric transit vehicle: A case study in the U.S.