Electronic Horizon: Energy Management using Telematics Information

A hybrid electric vehicle requires an energy management system to supply the vehicle power demand in a fuel efficient way. This paper presents a novel approach to utilize telematics information from a navigation system in existing energy management strategies. An electronic horizon is introduced which prescribes a preferred reference trajectory for the energy in the battery. By means of a simulation environment, the benefits in fuel economy are evaluated. It turns out that, in everyday driving situations, the potential fuel savings from the electronic horizon are limited, due to the excellent performance of existing energy management strategies. Dedicated driving cycles exist which offer more fuel profits for the e-horizon. Then, the size of the energy storage buffer limits the potential benefits of the e-horizon.