Eco-driving control of electric vehicle with battery dynamic model and multiple traffic signals

Abstract

Limited capacity and short life cycle of a battery are the major impediments in development of practical Electric Vehicles (EVs). Eco-driving is an optimization technique through which a velocity trajectory that consumes minimum energy is advised to the driver. However, presence of traffic signals to control large traffic network degrades the performance of eco-driving; as applying brakes to stop and then maximum re-acceleration to restart a trip consumes lot of energy. Eco-driving problem with multiple traffic signals and static model of battery has been proposed as Two Point Boundary Value Problem (TPBVP). TPBVP fails to solve multi-phase problem as a single phase due to discontinuity of the co-states at the junction, that is, start of a new phase. This paper investigates an optimal solution with both EV and battery dynamics in the presence of multiple traffic signals as Multi Point Boundary Value Problem (MPBVP) using multiple shooting technique. Traffic signals come at some intermediate points of a trip. MPBVP ensures continuity at the junction to solve the multi-phase problem as a single phase through inter dependencies between each phases. Goal of this work is not only to solve constrained eco-driving problem with traffic signals but also include charging and discharging limits on battery that indirectly improves battery’s life cycle. Results indicate that EV has crossed all the traffic signals during their green duration without applying brakes with also satisfying all the other constraints and continuity condition. Moreover, it can be seen that energy consumption using MPBVP is also marginally lesser as compared to TPBVP.