Optimal charger deployment for electric buses: Incorporating en-route charging and battery management

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2025

Subject Area

place - urban, mode - bus, infrastructure - fleet management, infrastructure - vehicle, operations - scheduling, economics - operating costs

Keywords

electric buses (EBs), battery capacity, fleet scheduling, en-route charging

Abstract

This paper presents a mixed-integer nonlinear programming aimed at optimizing the deployment of pantograph chargers for electric buses at stops. The model addresses critical real-world factors such as battery capacity fading, operational uncertainties, and fleet scheduling. The primary goal is to minimize the total operational cost of transit system, encompassing bus acquisition and battery deterioration costs, while adhering to a combined budget constraint for charger deployment. A case study based on an actual bus line is conducted to evaluate the model’s practical applicability. The numerical analyses demonstrate that incorporating en-route charging enables a reduction in the fleet size of electric buses to a level comparable with traditional buses, and concurrently, it significantly decreases battery degradation cost by up to 12.6%. These findings highlight the substantial economic benefits of integrating en-route charging into electric bus operations, particularly in densely populated urban areas with extensive bus networks.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transportation Research Part D Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13619209

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS