Automation and connectivity of electric vehicles: Energy boon or bane?

With the arrival of autonomous and connected vehicles, it remains unclear how automation and connectivity will impact the energy consumption of electric vehicles. Here, we report the energy impacts induced by these emerging technologies on electric vehicles in a realistic urban environment based on high-resolution empirical data and high-fidelity simulations. We find that, contrary to optimistic predictions, automated vehicles (AVs) alone in fact increase energy consumption compared with human-driven vehicles (HDVs) in a complicated urban environment (e.g., with distributed signalized intersections), while connected and automated vehicles outperform in energy, safety, and mobility. Also, based on our field experiments, scenario AV has a lower average speed compared with scenario HDV. These findings suggest that systematic efforts integrating AV technology innovations from the private sector and connected vehicle infrastructure investment from the public sector are essential to accomplish the ultimate vision of green urban transportation. [Display omitted] •Automated vehicles alone may increase energy consumption•Automated vehicles alone may increase travel time•Connected automated vehicles outperform in energy, safety, and mobility To achieve the carbon neutrality target, the transportation community may need to look beyond the private sector that is primarily focused on automated vehicles (AVs). Qu et al. report that AVs alone may increase energy consumption compared with human-driven vehicles. Systematic efforts are required to incorporate connected vehicle investment in AV technologies.