Adaptive eco-cruising control for connected electric vehicles considering a dynamic preceding vehicle

Energy consumption and driving safety of a vehicle are greatly influenced by the driving behaviors of the vehicle in front (also termed the preceding vehicle). Inappropriate responses to unanticipated changes in the preceding vehicle can lead to decreased energy efficiency and an increased risk of rear-end collisions. To address this issue, this study proposes an innovative Adaptive Eco-cruising Control Strategy (AECS) for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) considering the dynamic behavior prediction of the preceding vehicle. The AECS, which is designed with a two-stage receding horizon control framework, can adapt to scenarios where the preceding vehicle cuts in or moves out in a safer and energy-efficient manner compared to traditional eco-cruising strategies, which merely focus on a constant preceding vehicle. In the first stage, a prediction model for characterizing the dynamic behavior of preceding vehicles is developed using the Bayesian network. This model is trained using real-world vehicle driving data, allowing it to anticipate the driving trajectories of vehicles changing lanes in front. In the second stage, an energy-saving, safety, and driving comfort-oriented optimization problem is formulated as a quadratic programming form. The eco-cruising speed is then optimized to adapt to the dynamic traffic environment, especially when the preceding vehicle changes over time. Finally, several simulations are conducted to validate the AECS. The results demonstrate that the AECS can improve the energy efficiency of CAVs by up to 11.80% and 19.53% on average compared to the existing cruise control strategies and ensure vehicle driving safety and comfort, without compromising travel time. Additionally, the vehicle cut-in position, the cut-in vehicle speed, and the ego vehicle speed affect the energy efficiency improvement performance of the AECS.