The rapid and accurate path planning for lane change,effective tracking of the desired path while maintaining vehicle stability during lane change are core technologies to ensure active safety for intelligent vehicles.Here,a path planning strategy based on double quintic polynomial and introduction of intermediate position is proposed for intelligent vehicles,with the purpose to perform smooth and safe lane-changing in real time.The active lane change scenario was analyzed to determine the initial and target positions of the lane change,then a lane-changing path planning strategy of double quintic polynomial was proposed based on critical collision position during lane change.And a co-simulation model was established to carry out active lane change simulation tests in different road conditions.The results show that the proposed lane-changing path planning strategy has more obvious lateral displacement due to the introduction of the intermediate position,which can avoid obstacles in front of the vehicle thus ensure the safe lane changing. Meanwhile, the maximum lateral acceleration of the vehicle at the intermediate position is no more than 2 m/s²,which ensures the vehicle stability during lane change process.Furthermore,the required longitudinal safety distance for lane changing is reduced by about 20 m on both dry and wet roads,which reduces the longitudinal collision risk.The results provide theoretical and practical basis for active lane change path planning of intelligent vehicles.