Mental Models of Eco-Driving: Comparison of Driving Styles in a Simulator

Abstract

Passenger cars contribute 12% of the overall carbon dioxide emissions in the EU. Eco-driving skills such as avoiding excessive braking and accelerating could reduce passenger car fuel consumption by up to 10% and consequently reduce vehicular emissions. However, educational material and the prospect of saving a considerable amount of money in the long-term do not change the behaviour of the majority of drivers. Little is known about drivers' current understanding of eco-driving, how they make decisions to put this knowledge into practice and what motivates them to do so. For this research drivers’ knowledge, behavioural rules and skill were tested in an experiment. Sixteen participants drove the University of Leeds desktop driving simulator on a varied road layout. Each participant was asked to drive four times, having had different instructions. These instructions were ‘Drive normally’ for the first and the last run; ‘Drive safely’ and ‘Drive fuel-efficiently’ in the remaining two. Each time they were presented with an urban setting with traffic lights as well as with busy traffic on a motorway. By finding out more about drivers' mental models of eco-driving and how they put them into practice, it will be possible to design more targeted and effective support systems.

Keywords: Eco Driving, Mental Models, Driving Simulator, Driving Styles, Knowledge, Driving Skills

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100236