The Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle routing problem: A power-management strategy model

Abstract This paper presents the Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) routing problem that finds the optimal set and sequence of customers visited by PHEVs to minimize total energy consumption. PHEVs use electricity and gasoline as their two energy sources. A power management model finds the optimal draw of power from the two sources along the vehicle’s path. To solve the PHEVRP, we present an exact branch-and-price and a heuristic algorithm. We derive the complexity order of the algorithms and show that the heuristic becomes faster at larger battery capacities. We present a case study situated in the City of Toronto and show that the PHEVs use electricity in congested downtown regions and gasoline in free-flow conditions of highways.