Networked Electric Vehicles for Green Intelligent Transportation

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a key to future clean transportation systems. With the ubiquitous Internet-of-the-Things technologies including vehicle- to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication technologies, the nexus of the Internet, EVs, charging stations, and smart grid forms a perfect storm of opportunities for future green and intelligent transportation systems. In this new paradigm, reliable and efficient information exchanges between EVs, meters, charging stations and the power grid, as well as intelligent charging services, are key issues. To address these issues, this article promotes a hybrid vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communication network design. Facilitated by ubiquitous communication systems, how to efficiently and effectively manage EV charging services in both the charging station scenario and the distributed home charging scenario is discussed. Then, open research issues related to the communication technologies and charging services for networked EVs are summarized. Ultimately, networked EVs may not only revolutionize how people and goods move, but also how energy flows, leading to future green and intelligent transportation systems of both things and energy.