Energy-Saving Strategy for Speed Cruise Control Using Pulse and Glide Driving

As an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, automotive manufacturers have made significant efforts to lower carbon-related usage by improving the fuel efficiency of vehicles. For example, driving assistance or automated vehicle technology can improve efficiency because undesirable driving intentions or behaviors of human drivers can be removed, while the controller can maximize efficiency by utilizing the information of the powertrain characteristics. In this study, control concepts for cruise driving, such as Constant Speed (CS), Pulse and Glide with fuel-cut (PnG-FC), or Pulse and Glide with idling (PnG-ID) are investigated to improve fuel efficiency under different vehicle speeds and road grades. A mode decision map selecting the best control mode is obtained based on the analyzed results. For instance, PnG control is better than the Constant Speed when the vehicle is driving with an average speed of 100 km/h, where PnG-FC is preferred to the PnG-ID under the glide mode, which improves the fuel efficiency by 3.36%, compared to CS. The comparative study will be helpful for engineers to enhance their understanding of the control problem, and, as a result, the mode decision map provides very practical information that can be used to develop a real-world application.