A HLA-based multi-resolution approach to simulating electric vehicles in simulink and SUMO

Traffic congestion affects not only the economic activity of cities but is also responsible for air quality and global warming problems. The employment of electric buses in metropolitan transportation as an alternative to internal combustion engine buses appears to be a promising eco-sustainable solution. However, an important aspect in evaluating the performance and adequateness of such vehicles is the fact they are immersed in an urban context. This work follows a HLA-based distributed architecture for electric bus powertrain simulation within a realistic urban mobility environment. In that sense, it discusses on coupling the SUMO (Simulation of Urban MObility) microscopic traffic simulator with a model of an electric bus powertrain subsystem designed in the MatLab/Simulink environment. Both the electric bus traction subsystems and the integration have been validated using field test experimental data. The proposed simulation framework is multi-faceted. As a matter of fact it can be used, not only as electric vehicle evaluation tool under different dynamics of traffic conditions and driving behavior, but also as a planner for charging strategies and optimizations.