One of the scariest experiences for drivers of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is their power running out before they get to the next charging station. As a result, one of the main factors that buyers consider when buying an EV is its range. However, the higher the range in an EV, the more bulky the vehicle becomes and the more costly it is. This is because increasing the range involves increasing power storage capacity by adding the number of batteries on board the vehicle.
As a result, most consumers often have to make do with lower EV ranges than they would like. They are forced to adopt a range of techniques to maximize their range. However, even when using EVs with top power storage capacity, knowing how to improve electric vehicle range is crucial.
The adoption of EVs is fast gaining steam, which means that the knowledge on how to increase ev range will be even more crucial in the future. There are multiple techniques to achieve this goal but one of the most promising is the use of v2x communication technology.
How to Increase EV Range With V2x Technology
A Brief Intro to V2x Technology
Vehicle to Everything Technology (V2x) is a combination of technologies that enables the communication of vehicles with every other relevant entity on a road. Such entities include other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, infrastructure such as intersections and traffic lights, and network services.
The end goal of such communication is to make driving more efficient, enhance road safety, and promote the successful use of driverless cars.
For v2x communication to be realized, all the entities involved must be fitted with communication devices. Roadside units can be placed along roads. Pedestrians can have their mobile devices fitted with appropriate communication units. Vehicles can be fitted with onboard units.
V2x communication has been embraced by multiple countries worldwide, mostly in Europe and Asia. The infrastructure required is already being rolled out in countries like China. Moreover, vehicle manufacturers have already started incorporating v2x communication devices into their products.
However, the full adoption of v2x technology is still far off, especially in most countries in Africa and Asia.
Improving EV Range With Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control
V2x communication comes with numerous benefits. They include safer driving, better success with self-driving cars, and improved transportation management efficiency.
One of the most significant of these advantages, especially as concerns EV range, is cooperative adaptive cruise control.
Currently, there are a range of vehicles with the non-connected adaptive cruise control feature. It helps them gauge the speed of the vehicles ahead and adjust acceleration and deceleration to help increase driving efficiency. However, due to the non-connected nature of this feature, there is usually delay in the order of seconds when implementing optimizations to acceleration and deceleration.
With cooperative adaptive cruise control, input from all the vehicles on the road is used to implement the cruise control feature. This means that, for example, if there’s an accident that causes a vehicle 300m ahead to slow down, your vehicle will instantly adapt.
Thanks to the cooperation afforded by v2x communication, optimizations are made instantaneously.
But how exactly does this help with EV range?
When the road is congested, driving usually becomes inefficient. There’s a lot of acceleration and braking, leading to wastage of energy. With cooperative adaptive cruise control, which can even detect changes in speed for vehicles that are hundreds of meters ahead, energy wastage due to acceleration is significantly minimized.
Improving EV Range With Platooning
Another advantage of vehicle to everything technology is that it allows platooning. This is where vehicles travelling in the same direction fall in line behind one vehicle and travel at the same speed, maintaining a close distance between them.
It is crucial in increasing EV range.
One of the factors that most drives inefficiency in energy use on the road is wind resistance. In platooning, by maintaining a small gap between a vehicle and the one ahead, wind resistance is significantly reduced. As a result, for vehicles other than the leading vehicle, less energy will be consumed.
However, for platooning to be effective, higher v2x penetration is needed. The full advantages of this will therefore be reaped in the future.
Conclusion
The use of v2x communication technology in vehicles can help reduce energy consumption for vehicles on the road. In this article, we’ve seen how to improve electric vehicle range using cooperative adaptive cruise control and platooning.
However, there are other ways to improve EV range. These include reducing the amount of weight that your car is carrying, planning the most efficient routes, inflating your tires properly, going easy on the heat and making the most out of regenerative braking.
Also, driving smoothly and at lower speeds will help a great deal. An EV can have impressive launches as a result of its immediate torque. However, using this feature is a sure way to drain your EV battery. Instead, take it easy when accelerating from a halt.
