Review of Electrical Architectures and Power Requirements for Automated Vehicles

Abstract

Automated vehicles require sensors and computer processing that can perceive the surrounding environment and make real time decisions. These additional electrical loads expand the auxiliary load profile, therefore reducing the range of an automated electric vehicle compared to a standard electric vehicle. Furthermore, a fully automated vehicle must be fail-safe from sensor to vehicle control, thus demanding additional electrical loads due to redundancies in hardware throughout the vehicle. This paper presents a review of the sensors needed to make a vehicle automated, the power required for these additional auxiliary loads, and the necessary electrical architectures for increasing levels of robustness.