An Economical Route Planning Method for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle in Real World

Abstract

Relieving the adverse effects of automobiles on the environment and natural resources has drawn the attention of numerous researchers. This paper seeks a new path to reach a target by focusing on the synergy of the vehicle and the environment. A real-time economical route planning method for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is proposed. Three main contributions have been made. Firstly, a real comparison test is performed to provide rudimentary understanding of the difference in energy usage and route planning between PHEVs and conventional vehicles. Secondly, an approach to obtain PHEV customized data is developed for road weight calculation, which is the essential step in route planning. This method incorporates traffic data from conventional vehicles with the PHEV simulation model, obtaining the required data. Thirdly, the travel expense estimation model (TEEM) is designed. The TEEM could be applied to calculate the road weight of each road segment considering the impact on energy consumption with respect to environmental factors, providing the grounds for route planning. The proposed method to plan an economical route is evaluated, and the results justify its validation and ability to improve fuel economy.

Keywords

• route planning
• plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
• travel expense estimation model
• road weight calculation