Environmental evaluation of intelligent cruise control (ICC) vehicles

This paper environmentally evaluates the intelligent cruise control (ICC) system using a comprehensive modal emissions model that calculates vehicle emissions depending on its mode of operation, i.e., steady state cruise, acceleration/deceleration, etc. The ICC is designed to guarantee accurate speed and position tracking during "smooth" acceleration manoeuvres. As a consequence, fuel consumption and air pollution is reduced by 8.5% and 8.1%-18.4% respectively, due to the presence of 10% ICC vehicles during smooth acceleration manoeuvres. Furthermore, human factor considerations dictate that the response of an ICC vehicle should be smooth. As a result, improvements of the order of 28.5% and 1.5%-60.6% can be observed during rapid acceleration transients in fuel consumption and air pollution levels, respectively, due to the presence of 10% semi-automated vehicles. The data obtained are qualitatively valid and demonstrate the beneficial effect of ICC vehicles on air quality and fuel consumption.