Optimizing the electrification of roads with charge-while-drive technology

Abstract Given the current state of battery technology, applying electric trucks for long-haul transportation is a cumbersome task. Either the driving ranges are too short or high-capacity batteries are so heavy that payloads are limited. An old, yet recently revitalized charging infrastructure, currently evaluated on multiple test tracks all around the globe, allows to charge electric trucks while driving. However, installing the charging infrastructure along highways, namely, overhead wiring or road-embedded power lines both accessed by trucks equipped with a movable contact arm, is costly. This paper provides a detailed modeling approach based on continuous variables to minimize the installation costs for electrified highway kilometers while still providing sufficient energy for a given set of representative tours of electric vehicles. We apply our solution approach to show that investment costs can considerably be reduced along a European highway mainline while still allowing electrified transport among most adjacent major cities. Furthermore, we quantify the loss in precision, if instead of our detailed approach a more aggregate model based on discrete decision variables is applied.