This paper investigates the possibility of improving the fuel efficiency by decreasing the engine speed during the coasting phase\r\nof the vehicle. The proposed approach is stimulated by the fact that the engine losses increase with the engine speed. If the engine\r\nspeed is retained low, the engine losses will be reduced and subsequently the tractive torque will be increased, enabling the vehicle to\r\nremain moving for longer duration while coasting. By increasing the time period of the coasting the fuel efficiency can be increased,\r\nespecially travelling downhill, since it can benefit from the kinematic energy stored in the vehicle to continue coasting for a longer\r\nduration. It is already industry standard practice to cut fuel during coasting and refuel at lowengine speed.Thesubstantial difference\r\nproposed in this paper is the controlled reduction of engine speed during this phase and thus reduction in the engine losses, resulting\r\nin improved fuel economy.The simulationmodel is tested and the results illustrating an improvement to the fuel efficiency through\r\nthe proposed method are presented. Some results of the experimental tests with a real vehicle through the proposed strategy are\r\nalso presented in the paper.
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