Designing an in-vehicle eco-driving support system to assist drivers in conserving fuel

Environmentally friendly driving – or eco-driving – refers to the driving of a vehicle in a way that conserves fuel and reduces emissions. Large fuel savings are possible by targeting the role of driver behaviour in the protection of the environment, and teaching them how to ‘eco-drive’. This study forms part of the ecoDriver project, which aims to develop an in-vehicle eco-driving support system. While many current systems offer after-trip feedback on the fuel efficiency of driving or simple in-trip recommendations (e.g. gear shift indicators), this study investigates a number of systems that provide real-time, feed-forward guidance on how to alter accelerator usage in the upcoming moments to minimise fuel consumption. A driving simulator was used to test three potential eco-driving interfaces which used a common eco-driving guidance algorithm. Two systems used a haptic accelerator pedal, while one presented multi-modal visual and auditory information. Objective eco-driving performance was measured as the error between desired accelerator position defined by the system and accelerator position selected by the driver. Subjective feedback on workload and acceptability of the system was analysed and driver visual distraction was monitored throughout. This study informs on the most effective and acceptable presentation methods for real-time in-vehicle guidance on eco-driving.