Gear Shifting and Vehicle Speed Optimization for Eco-Driving on Curved Roads

This paper presents a control strategy to optimize both the vehicle speed and gearbox position on curved roads with the aim of maximizing fuel economy. Previous studies have focused only on the vehicle speed optimization during cornering. Combining vehicle speed and gearbox position optimization can significantly maximize the energy-saving for an Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. The problem is formulated as two successive optimization problems. In the first one, based on the road map and traffic data, the vehicle’s optimal speed profile is calculated by minimizing the energy spent for the entire curve. In the second one, the gearbox position is optimized for fuel consumption minimization using realistic engine map. The presented control structure’s effectiveness was evaluated through co-simulation of Matlab/Simulink and CarSim in various driving scenarios. The results show that approximately 5.25% to 11.44 % of fuel savings can be achieved compared with a typical driver model.