Benedikt Jäger (TUM), Florian Bachmann (Taxi association), Gunnar Heipp (SWM/MVG), Dr. Jürgen Gaulke (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology), Dr. Wolfgang Christl (Chamber of Crafts). (Credit: Munich City Utilities)
A fleet of 130 virtual electric vehicles is to be tested for viability on the roads in Munich, Germany. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have installed smartphones into local taxis and commercial vehicles to track their movements. Using this data, the smartphone’s software will tell how electric vehicles would perform under the same conditions.
The last smartphones with virtual electric vehicle software are currently being handed over to the project participants. Once that is completed, the first phase of the “Virtual Electromobility among taxis and commercial vehicles in Munich” (VEM) project will begin. This phase entails capturing data on the mobility behavior of the participating drivers.
From the start of next year, the software developed by TUM’s Institute of Automotive Technology will simulate the operation of an electric vehicle on each of the smartphones. This is the first time that a simulation of this kind has been undertaken. The phones will record the exact location of the vehicle via GPS, along with driving behavior like acceleration, deceleration and turns. Once this driving data has been collected, the software will calculate the energy consumption for a freely configured electric vehicle and show the charge status of a virtual electric vehicle’s battery.
Parallel to the virtual electric vehicle simulation phase, the data calculated will be validated with a real electric car. “This will show various taxi and commercial operators that partial electrification of their fleet would not only be technical feasible, but would already today offer economic and environmental benefits,” said engineer Benedikt Jäger from TUM’s Institute of Automotive Technology.
For the researchers, the biggest challenge lies in establishing the measures needed for electric vehicles to handle the considerable distances driven by taxis and commercial vehicles every day. Electric vehicles have different ranges, depending on their intended purpose. So one of the important findings from the project will be the location of additional charging stations that would need to be installed on taxi and commercial routes.
