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Virginia Tech

Path Selection to Minimize Energy Consumption of an Electric Vehicle using Synthetic Speed Profiles and Predictive Terminal Energy

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Manufacturers of passenger vehicles are experiencing increased pressure from consumers and legislators due to the impact of transportation on the environment. Automotive manufacturers are responding by designing more sustainable forms of transportation through a variety of efforts, including increased vehicle efficiency and the electrification of vehicle powertrains (plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV)). An additional method for reducing the environmental impact of personal transport is eco-routing, a methodology which selects routes on the basis of energy consumption. Standard navigation systems offer route alternatives between a user clarified origin and destination when there are multiple paths available. These alternatives are commonly weighted on the basis of minimizing either total travel time (TTT) or trip distance. Eco-routing offers an alternative criterion – minimizing route energy consumption. Calculation of the energy consumption of a route necessitates the creation of a velocity profile which models how the route will be driven and a powertrain model which relates energy consumption to the constructed velocity profile. Existing research efforts related to both of these aspects typically require complex analysis and proprietary vehicle properties. A new approach to weighting the energy consumption of different routes is presented within this paper. The process of synthesizing velocity profiles is an improvement upon simpler models while requiring fewer variables as compared to more complex models. A single input, the maximum acceleration, is required to tune driver aggressiveness throughout an entire route. Additionally, powertrain results are simplified through the application of a new parameter, predictive terminal energy. The parameter uses only glider properties as inputs, as compared to dedicated powertrain models which use proprietary vehicle information as inputs which are not readily available from manufacturers. Application of this research reduces computation time and increases the number of vehicles for which this analysis can be applied. An example routing scenario is presented, demonstrating the capability of the velocity synthesis and predictive terminal energy methodologies.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2017

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Moniot, Matthew Louis
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Nelson, Douglas J.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Rakha, Hesham A.
  • West, Robert L.

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:11104
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78223

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Moniot, Matthew Louis. Path Selection to Minimize Energy Consumption of an Electric Vehicle using Synthetic Speed Profiles and Predictive Terminal Energy. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78223