A Comparison of two Predictive Approaches to Control the Longitudinal Dynamics of Electric Vehicles

In this contribution we compare two different approaches to the implementation of a Model Predictive Controller in an electric vehicle with respect to the quality of the solution and real-time applicability. The goal is to develop an intelligent cruise control in order to extend the vehicle range, i.e. to minimize energy consumption, by computing the optimal torque profile for a given track. On the one hand, a path-based linear model with strong simplifications regarding the vehicle dynamics is used. On the other hand, a nonlinear model is employed in which the dynamics of the mechanical and electrical subsystem are modeled.