Simulative Assessments of Energy and Space Savings due to Platooning

Within a platoon, the vehicles are electronically connected and therefore capable of following each other autonomously. Due to this connection the reaction time of the following vehicles is reduced tremendously and enables the vehicles to keep a shorter distance to its preceding platoon member. These shortened intra-platoon gaps are expected to cater for several positive effects. This paper examines the effects of truck platooning n a motorway in regard to gain of road capacity and energy consumption. Eight simulations are conducted, two network elements Motorway Access and Motorway Exit , two lengths of platoons, three truck and six truck platoons as well as two traffic demand developments have been tested. Based on the driving behaviours of trucks on motorways, driving cycles generated from the simulation study serve as input for an energy consumption analysis. The results show that in all the scenarios, the truck platooning of the heavy traffic caused the gain of road capacity of up to 11.9 % and a net energy savings of up to 13 % for the trucks platooning along the motorway. Overall, the study indicates that truck platooning increases the capacity and reduces the energy consumption.     «

Within a platoon, the vehicles are electronically connected and therefore capable of following each other autonomously. Due to this connection the reaction time of the following vehicles is reduced tremendously and enables the vehicles to keep a shorter distance to its preceding platoon member. These shortened intra-platoon gaps are expected to cater for several positive effects. This paper examines the effects of truck platooning n a motorway in regard to gain of road capacity and energy consum...     »