Abstract
Electric vehicles (EV) have received much attention in the last few years. Still, they have neither been widely accepted by commuters nor by organizations with service fleets. It is predominately the lack of recharging infrastructure that is inhibiting a wide-scale adoption of EVs. The problem of using EVs is especially apparent in long trips, or inter-city trips. Range anxiety, when the driver is concerned that the vehicle will run out of charge before reaching the destination, is a major hindrance for the market penetration of EVs. To develop a recharging infrastructure it is important to route vehicles from origins to destinations with minimum detouring when battery recharging/exchange facilities are few and far between. This paper defines the EV shortest-walk problem to determine the route from a starting point to a destination with minimum detouring; this route may include cycles for detouring to recharge batteries. Two problem scenarios are studied: one is the problem of traveling from an origin to a destination to minimize the travel distance when any number of battery recharge/exchange stops may be made. The other is to travel from origin to destination when a maximum number of stops is specified. It is shown that both of these problems are polynomially solvable and solution algorithms are provided. This paper also presents another new problem of finding the route that minimizes the maximum anxiety induced by the route.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahuja RK, Magnanati TL, Orlin JB (1993) Network Flows: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Bakker J (2011) Contesting range anxiety: the role of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the transportation transition. Eindhoven University of Technology
Beasley JE, Christofides N (1989) An algorithm for the resource constrained shortest path problem. Networks 19:379–394
Berman O, Larson RC, Nikoletta F (1992) Optimal location of discretionary service facilities. Transp Sci 26:201–211
Botsford C, Szczepanek A (2009) Fast charging vs. slow charging: pros and cons for the new age of electric vehicles, in EVS24 International Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium, 1–9
Bradley TH, Frank A (2009) Design, demonstrations and sustainability impact assessments for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Renew Sust Energ Rev 13:115–128
Capar I, Kuby M, Rao B (2012) A new formulation of the flow-refueling location model for alternative-fuel stations considering candidate locations on arcs. IIE Trans 44(8):622–636
Chen BY, Lam WHK, Sumalee A, Li Q, Shao H, Fang Z (2012) Finding reliable shortest paths in road networks under uncertainty. Networks and Spatial Economics 13(2):123–148
Desrochers M, Soumis FC (1988) A generalized permanent labelling algorithm for the shortest path problem with time windows. INFOR 26(3):191–212
Garey MR, Johnson DS (1979) Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness. W. F, Freeman, New York, NY
Hacker F, Harthan R, Matthes F (2009) Environmental impacts and impact on the electricity market of a large scale introduction of electric cars in Europe
Handler GY, Zang I (1980) A dual algorithm for the constrained shortest path problem. Networks 10:293–309
He F, Yin Y, Wang J, Yang Y (2013) Optimal prices of electricity at public charging stations. Networks and Spatial Ecnomics (Sustantability SI)
Hodgson MJ (1990) A flow-capturing location-allocation model. Geogr Anal 22:270–279
Ichimori T, Ishii H, Nishida T (1981) Routing a vehicle with the limitation of fuel. J Oper Res Soc Jpn 24(3):277–281
Jeeninga H, Arkel WGV, Volkers CH (2002) Performance and acceptance of electric and hybrid vehicles: determination of attitude shifts and energy consumption of electric and hybrid vehicles used in the ELCIDIS project. Muncipality of Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Jiang N, Xie C, Waller ST (2012) Path-constrained traffic assignment: model and algorithm. 91st Annual Meeting of the Transportation Board
Kaibel V, Peinhardt MAF (2006) On the bottleneck shortest path problem. Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik Berlin.
Kuby M (2005) The flow-refueling location problem for alternative-fuel vehicles. Socio Econ Plan Sci 39:125–145
Kuby M, Lim S (2007) Location of alternative-fuel stations using the flow-refueling location model and dispersion of candidate sites on arcs. Networks and Spatial Economics 7:129–152
Kurani KS, Heffner RR, Turrentine T (2008) Driving plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: reports from U.S. drivers of HEVs converted to PHEVs, circa 2006–07. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 38–45
Laporte G, Pascoal MMB (2011) Minimum cost path problems with relays. Computers & Operations Research 38:165–173
Lawler EL (2001) Combinatorial Optimization: Networks and Matroids. 93
Lim S, Kuby M (2010) Heuristic algorithms for siting alternative-fuel stations using the Flow-Refueling Location Model. Eur J Oper Res 204:51–61
Mahony H (2011) Denmark to be electric cars guinea pig. In: EUObserver.com. http://euobserver.com/transport/32458
Mirchandani PB, Francis RL (1990) Discrete Location Theory 1–576
Ogden JM, Steinbugler MM, Kreutz TG (1999) A comparison of hydrogen, methanol and gasoline as fuels for fuel cell vehicles: implications for vehicle design and infrastructure development. J Power Sources 79:143–168
Ramaekers K, Reumers S, Wets G, Cools S (2013) Modelling route choice decisions of car travelers using combined GPS and diary data. Networks and Spatial Economics 13(3):351–372
Rebello R, Agnetis A, Mirchandani PB (1995) The inspection station location problem in hazardous material transportation. INFOR 33:100
Sachenbacher M (2010) The shortest path problem revisited: optimal routing for electric vehicles. KI 2010: Advances in Artifical Intelligence, 33rd Annual German Conference on AI. pp 309–316
Schultz J (2010) Better place opens battery-swap station in tokyo for 90-Day taxi trial. In: The New York Times. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/better-place-opens-battery-swap-station-in-tokyo-for-90-day-taxi-trial/. Accessed 2 Feb 2012
Senart A, Kurth S, Roux GL, et al. (2010) Assessment framework of plug-in electric vehicles strategies. Smart Grid Communications, 2010 First IEEE International Conference on 155–160
Shemer N (2012) “Better place unveils battery-swap network,” Jerusalem Post
Shiau C-SN, Kaushal N, Hendrickson CT et al (2010) Optimal plug-in hybrid electric vehicle design and allocation for minimum life cycle cost, petroleum consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. J Mech Des 132:1–11
Smith OJ, Boland N, Waterer H (2012) Solving shortest path problems with a weight constraint and replenishment arcs. Computers and Operations Research 39:964–984
Sovacool BK, Hirsh RF (2009) Beyond batteries: An examination of the benefits and barriers to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) transition. Energy Policy 37:1095–1103
Upchurch C, Kuby M, Lim S (2009) A model for location of capacitated alternative-fuel stations. Geogr Anal 41:85–106
Xiao Y, Thulasiraman K, Xue G, Jüttner A (2005) The constrained shortest path problem: algorithmic approaches and an algebraic study with generalization. AKCE International Journal of Graphs and Combinatorics 2(2):63–86
Yu ASO, Silva LLC, Chu CL, et al. (2011) Electric vehicles: struggles in creating a market. Technology Management in the Energy Smart World (Portland, OR), 1–13
Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1234584 and by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration under the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the above organizations.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adler, J.D., Mirchandani, P.B., Xue, G. et al. The Electric Vehicle Shortest-Walk Problem With Battery Exchanges. Netw Spat Econ 16, 155–173 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11067-013-9221-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11067-013-9221-7