Charging and trip planning of electric vehicles (CHARGE)

Research Project, 2023 – 2026

The aim of this project is to develop an intelligent trip planning system for electrified vehicles that optimally plans energy and thermal management, eco-driving and electricity charging over long routes. The system incorporates information shared with other vehicles and predictive information on charging power availability to optimally manage charging from both the vehicular and infrastructure perspective. The idea is to also handle different electricity pricing and business models for charging. Such a holistic perspective on intelligent trip planning has not been studied previously and the hypothesis is that a holistic approach is necessary to avoid queues at some charging stations and underutilization of other stations, while minimizing travel time and energy consumption for the individual electric vehicle user. We will develop stochastic models on the anticipated distribution of charging cost, power availability, waiting time and overstay cost at charging facilities. Optimal control will be deployed to answer the hypothesis, and the results will be demonstrated using a simulated fleet of 10 vehicles driving from Gothenburg to Uppsala. By utilizing predictive information, we expect to achieve 5-20% reduction in total trip time and 5-10% energy saving compared to the systems currently in use.