Vehicle Automation and Its Potential Impacts on Energy and Emissions

Interest in vehicle automation is at an all-time high, with many recent real-world demonstrations from a variety of companies and research groups. The key fundamental building blocks for automating vehicles have been in development for many years, making vehicle automation a near-term reality. Also in recent years, there have been significant efforts to make vehicles more energy efficient and less polluting, through the development of advanced powertrains and the development and promotion of alternative lower-carbon fuels, as well as traffic system operational improvements. With these two developing areas, one of the key questions is how will vehicle automation affect overall traffic energy efficiency and emissions. In this chapter, we briefly outline some of these potential impacts, examining issues such as vehicle design, vehicle and traffic operations, and even potential changes in activity patterns.