The effect of battery degradation on the route optimization of electric vehicles

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2022.08.118

Range anxiety poses a barrier in the effective utilization of electric vehicles (EVs) in logistics operations despite the advancements in battery technology. In addition, batteries have limited economic lives and their cost constitutes the major component in the total cost of ownership of the EV. This study investigates the effect of battery degradation on the route and charge planning of an EV within the context of the travelling salesman problem with time windows. First, we formulate the mathematical model of the problem where the objective function minimizes the costs associated with battery degradation and total energy consumed. Next, we solve small-size instances from the literature by using a commercial solver to examine the influence of battery degradation on the routing decisions under different scenarios. The results show that incorporating battery cost may change the optimal routes and lead to more frequent recharges en-route. In addition, the actual costs differ substantially from those obtained with distance/energy minimization objective only.