Vehicle-infrastructure integration enabled plug-in hybrid electric vehicles for energy management

The U.S. federal government is seeking useful applications of Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration (VII) to encourage a greener and more efficient transportation system; Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are considered as one of the most promising automotive technologies for such an application. In this study, the author demonstrates a strategy to improve PHEV energy efficiency via the use of VII. This dissertation, which is composed of three published peer-reviewed journal articles, demonstrates the efficacies of the PHEV-VII system as regards to both the energy use and environmental impact under different scenarios.;The first article demonstrates the capabilities of and benefits achievable for a power-split drivetrain PHEV with a VII-based energy optimization strategy. With the consideration of several real-time implementation issues, the results show improvements in fuel consumption with the PHEV-VII system under various driving cycles. In the second article, a forward PHEV model with an energy management system and a cycle optimization algorithm is evaluated for energy efficiency. Prediction cycles are optimized using a cycle optimization strategy, which resulted in 56-86% fuel efficiency improvements for conventional vehicles. When combined with the PHEV power management system, about 115% energy efficiency improvements were achieved. The third article focuses on energy and emission impacts of the PHEV-VII system. At a network level, a benefit-cost analysis is conducted, which indicated that the benefits outweighed costs for PHEV and Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) integrated with a VII system at the fleet penetration rate of 20% and 30%, respectively.