07:39PM - 08.03.'16
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News Source: autoblog.com Carnegie Mellon University
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Autonomous driving features are already changing the way many of us drive (or, rather, don't drive). A suite of sensors and software, in vehicles that have them, govern at least some of the behavior of the car going down the road. Depending on the programming, the autonomous behavior has an effect on things like safety (one of the great reasons for autonomy in the first place), fuel economy, and emissions. The amount one relies on the autonomous driving features amplifies these effects. What does that mean for the future of fuel economy ratings going forward, as more and more vehicles incorporate some type of autonomous driving into their repertoire?According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering, actually changing the way the EPA treats autonomous cars could have an impact on efficiency. The report, Fuel economy testing of autonomous vehicles, published in the journal Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, finds that if the automakers take efficiency into account of their autonomous driving algorithms, vehicles could yield efficiency benefits of up to 10 percent. As vehicles become smarter and more connected, they can predict and even communicate behavior to one another. This impacts how smoothly a car accelerates or decelerates, which has a big influence on fuel use. And the more driving duty the technology takes over in coming years, the bigger impact that programming will have. If the EPA takes early autonomous vehicle technology into account for its fuel economy and emissions testing, its influence could help convince automakers to unlock the fuel efficiency afforded by smart use of autonomous driving programming. On the other hand, if the EPA does nothing to account for vehicle autonomy, and automakers don't take it upon themselves to incorporate fuel-saving methods into their self-driving algorithms, fuel economy could degrade as much as three percent. "Because existing standardized tests don't consider AV technologies, there are limited incentives for car manufacturers to design cars for optimum fuel efficiency," says assistant professor of civil & environmental engineering Constantine Samaras. The researchers recommend incorporating vehicle autonomy into driving cycles when performing tests, and they offer their own test results as a "starting point" for revamping EPA tests. While any given driver will use autonomous features differently, the fact is that they are becoming a part of real-world driving, and tests should try to reflect the fact that human drivers are and will be handing over more and more driving duties to autonomous vehicles. And if automakers know they can improve their EPA ratings through optimized software, that's bound to help steer autonomy in a cleaner direction. Learn more in the press release below. |
