EL FORT - Electric Fleet Optimization in Real-Time

Purpose and goal

The goal with the project was to do research on and develop an algorithm predicting the energy consumption of electrical vehicles for distribution of goods in urban environments. Not only traditional parameters such as battery capacity and transmission are included in the prediction but also acceleration changes (e.g., starts and stops at intersections), topology (e.g., inclinations) as well as other road traffic. The developed algorithm is called Two-Stage Electrical Vehicle Routing Problem (2sEVRP). A PhD student has been financed by the project.

Expected results and effects

The project has developed an algorithm for predicting the energy consumption of vehicles used for distribution of goods in urban scenarios by including novel parameters such as topology, speed changes and the surrounding traffic. The algorithm is called 2sEVRP and has through analysis shown that is consistent with high fidelity vehicle simulation results. The research has resulted in one conference article, one journal paper, and a licentiate thesis.

Planned approach and implementation

The research within the project has been conducted by an industrial PhD student that has been enrolled at Chalmers University of Technology. First a state-of-the-art of the studied area has been performed detailing the research direction. Further, simulations and analysis of the thought algorithm has been done. All work has been summarized in publications (conference and journal articles and a licentiate thesis).