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CONVENIENT is a project where prediction and integrated control are applied on several subsystems with electrified actuators. The technologies developed in this project are applied to a long-haul tractor and semi-trailer combination. A Volvo truck meeting the Eu6 emission standard is rebuilt with a number of controllable electrified actuators. An e-Horizon system collects information about future road topography and speed limits. Controllable aerodynamic wind deflectors reduce the wind drag. The tractor is also equipped with a full digital cluster for human machine interface development. A primary project goal is to develop a model-based optimal controller that uses predictive information from the e-Horizon system in order to minimize fuel consumption. Several energy buffers are controlled in an integrated and optimal way using model predictive control. Several buffers are considered, such as the cooling system, the battery, and the vehicle kinetic energy.

Decreasing fuel consumption and emissions in automobiles has been an active research topic in recent years. Vehicles with alternative powertrain systems, especially hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs), have shown significant reduction in fuel consumption and emissions, and therefore have attracted many researchers to this field. The focus is usually on the development of optimal power management control methods. For parallel HEVs, the primary control variable is the torque split between the internal combustion engine and the electric motor. More advanced approaches also simultaneously search for the optimal gear number and engine on/off state, which can further reduce the fuel consumption but also complicate the problem. In the literature on HEVs, the emphasis is typically only on fuel efficiency and sometimes the emissions. The drivability of the vehicle is usually not considered during the optimization process.