Influence of External Environmental Factors on Range Estimation of Autonomous Hybrid Vehicles

During our research, we focus on a less researched area in the development of autonomous vehicles. Automotive industry is turning more and more from conventional, internal combustion engine equipped vehicles to the electric cars. Today, electric driving is mostly limited to urban traffic, this is the area where range and refueling limits can be a real alternative. However, it is important to think of those who intend to use vehicle in longer distances, and hybrid technology can provide them a modern, environmentally conscious way of transport.

In this article, we describe the method of creating the fuel consumption influencing factors matrix, which is the starting point of our research. We studied relevant researches and based on refueling studies we created the matrix. Based on results of real tests, we determined the factor mix that are the basis of our fuel consumption prediction model. These results will be inputs of planning routes of autonomous vehicles with optimized refueling and fuel consumption.