Expected changes in the energy performance of traffic flows as penetrated by electrified vehicles

Abstract

This paper examines the energy performance of traffic as penetrated by electrified vehicles (BEVs), in comparison with the corresponding behavior of fossil fueled. The evaluation is conducted by combining two approaches that provide macroscopic estimations for the traffic performance and the energy consumption. A Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) is used to identify the congestion status of an urban area, under various traffic demands. Speed dependent energy consumption functions able to capture the effect of congestion are fed with the traffic outputs of the MFD to estimate traffic included consumption. Results show that BEVs energy consumption is not sensitive to changes in traffic conditions and the demand, in contrast with the conventional which consumption particularly rises with the traffic demand. A potential rebound effect from an incremental use of BEVs also evaluated.