An Intelligent and Secure IoT-Based Framework for Predicting Charging and Travel Duration in Autonomous Electric Taxi Systems

This study presents models for estimating the charging time and travel time in autonomous electric taxi systems, based on Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) deep learning methods. In addition to these models, two classical time-series forecasting techniques ARIMA and Prophet were also applied to provide a broader comparative baseline. Unlike traditional time-series prediction methods, the proposed system combines artificial intelligence with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to perform secure charging operations based on multi-layer cybersecurity mechanisms, including IP authentication, encrypted communication, and charger server validation steps. The models were trained and validated using a comprehensive dataset obtained from 100 electric vehicles with different battery capacities at 50 charging stations located in Kocaeli Province. In the predictions considering parameters such as the vehicle type, battery capacity, and charge level, both models showed high accuracy rates, with the GRU model performing better than the LSTM model in terms of the error rate and temporal consistency. ARIMA and Prophet, on the other hand, produced significantly lower performance compared to deep learning models, confirming that GRU is the most suitable approach for real-time duration estimation. Customers can obtain the estimated time, cost, and charging requirements before their trip, and continuous multi-stage IP-based security controls are performed throughout the charging process as part of the cybersecurity framework. If a foreign or unauthorized connection is detected, the charging operation is automatically stopped. The proposed approach not only increases the efficiency in electric vehicle energy management but also presents an innovative framework that contributes to sustainable and smart transportation. By combining deep learning models, classical statistical forecasting methods, IoT integration, and enhanced cybersecurity controls, this work represents a pioneering step toward autonomous, secure, and eco-friendly urban transportation systems.