Power on the Go: A Solution to Address Electric Vehicle Charging Challenges

Abstract

In this article, we propose a novel solution to address the current challenges related to charging an Electric Vehicle (EV). The Power on the Go: Single-drop and Double-drop problems allow an EV to be charged at a convenient location, where a service vehicle (drone), which is launched from a nearby charging station, can bring a compatible power bank at the request of the driver through an app. The objective is to reduce the cumulative wait time between service requests and the start of charging. We present mathematical formulations and two order-first split-second-based heuristic approaches for both problems. While the mathematical formulations can generate optimal solutions for small instances in a reasonable amount of time, the heuristics are fast and perform very well, with gaps < 5% for up to 20 node instances. Moreover, the formulations highlight the mean savings in wait time (29.37%) when the power bank can charge two EVs consecutively before a replacement is needed. The implications of the proposed model can be extensive, as we seek to overcome the availability and technological challenges of EV charging while advocating its adoption.