This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of adaptive cruise control on energy consumption in real-world driving conditions based on a natural experiment: a large-scale observational dataset of driving data from a diverse fleet of vehicles and drivers. The analysis is conducted at two different fidelity levels: (1) a macroscopic trip-level benefit estimate that compares trips with and without cruise control in a counterfactual way using statistical methods, and (2) a situation-based comparison achieved through the segmentation of trips into distinct driving situations such as acceleration, braking, cruising, and other maneuvers. The results of this research show that the effect of cruise control on energy consumption varies across different driving situations and levels of analysis. In a macroscopic trip-level analysis, cruise control engagement is associated with a slight increase in fuel consumption across the fleet. As revealed later by the situation-based analysis, this result can be attributed to the negative impact of cruise control on energy consumption in cruising mode, which is the most common driving situation. However, the situation-based comparison demonstrates that cruise control can provide fuel consumption benefits in situations involving acceleration and braking, particularly when a preceding vehicle is present. The study also emphasizes the importance of controlling for various factors that can influence both fuel consumption and the likelihood of cruise control engagement to properly evaluate its effects.

本文基于自然实验全面分析了自适应巡航控制对实际驾驶条件下能耗的影响：来自不同车队和驾驶员的驾驶数据的大规模观察数据集。该分析在两个不同的保真度级别进行：（1） 宏观行程级别收益估计，使用统计方法以反事实的方式比较有巡航控制和无巡航控制的行程，以及 （2） 通过将行程细分为不同的驾驶情况（如加速、制动、巡航和其他机动）来实现基于情境的比较。这项研究的结果表明，巡航控制对能耗的影响因不同的驾驶情况和分析水平而异。在宏观行程级别分析中，巡航控制参与与整个船队油耗的轻微增加有关。正如后来基于情况的分析所揭示的那样，这一结果可归因于巡航控制对巡航模式下能源消耗的负面影响，这是最常见的驾驶情况。然而，基于情况的比较表明，巡航控制可以在涉及加速和制动的情况下提供油耗优势，尤其是在有前方车辆时。该研究还强调了控制可能影响油耗和巡航控制可能性的各种因素以正确评估其影响的重要性。