Cooperative‐ and eco‐driving: Impact on fuel consumption for heavy trucks on hills

Greenhouse gas emissions are the cause of climate change, which in turn has a negative impact on people and the environment. Reducing the fuel consumption of conventional engines reduces climate‐damaging emissions and can, thus, contribute to achieving climate protection goals. In addition, fuel costs are a major cost factor for long‐haul trucking. Eco‐driving helps to reduce fuel costs when driving on inclines and declines. Due to the high mass and, therefore, high kinetic and potential energy of heavy trucks, fuel can be saved by coasting before slopes and before speed limits. However, energy‐efficient and non‐cooperative driving, i.e., without considering other road users, can lead to increased fuel consumption as vehicles impede each other. To resolve conflicts in road traffic, a variety of methods that enable cooperative driving exist. In general, vehicles communicate with vehicle‐to‐everything (V2X) and negotiate a joint driving strategy. This paper presents a method that combines cooperative and energy‐efficient driving and examines the impact on fuel consumption during uphill driving. The method relies on the exchange of trajectories for cooperative maneuver coordination. By computing a strategic trajectory, energy‐efficient driving with long coasting maneuvers is enabled. In the simulative evaluation, travel over hills with two and three trucks is investigated. It is shown that the combination of cooperative and eco‐driving reduces the fuel costs for traffic.