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energies
Article
ElectricVehicles inLogisticsandTransportation:
ASurveyonEmergingEnvironmental,Strategic,
andOperationalChallenges
AngelAlejandroJuan1,*,CarlosAlbertoMendez2, JavierFaulin3, JesicadeArmas1
andScottErwinGrasman4
1 ComputerScienceDepartment, Internet InterdisciplinaryInstitute,OpenUniversityofCatalonia,
08018Barcelona,Spain; jde_armasa@uoc.edu
2 InstitutodeDesarrolloTecnológicopara la IndustriaQuímica,UniversidadNacionaldelLitoral,CONICET,
3000SantaFe,Argentina; cmendez@intec.unl.edu.ar
3 StatisticsandOperationsResearchDepartment,PublicUniversityofNavarre,31006Pamplona,Spain;
javier.faulin@unavarra.es
4 IndustrialandSystemsEngineering,Rochester InstituteofTechnology,Rochester,NY14623,USA;
segeie@rit.edu
* Correspondence: ajuanp@uoc.edu;Tel.:+34-93-326-3600;Fax:+34-93-356-8822
AcademicEditor:K.T.Chau
Received: 14December2015;Accepted: 25 January2016;Published: 28 January2016
Abstract:Current logisticsandtransportation (L&T)systems includeheterogeneousfleetsconsisting
of common internal combustion enginevehicles aswell as other types of vehicles using “green”
technologies, e.g., plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs). However, the
incorporation of EVs in L&T activities also raise some additional challenges from the strategic,
planning,andoperationalperspectives. For instance, smartcitiesarerequiredtoproviderecharge
stations forelectric-basedvehicles,meaningthat investmentdecisionsneedtobemadeabout the
number, location,andcapacityof thesestations. Similarly, the limiteddriving-rangecapabilitiesof
EVs,whichare restrictedby theamountof electricity stored in theirbatteries, imposenon-trivial
additionalconstraintswhendesigningefficientdistributionroutes.Accordingly, thispaper identifies
andreviewsseveralopenresearchchallenges related to the introductionofEVs inL&Tactivities,
including: (a) environmental-related issues; and (b) strategic, planning and operational issues
associatedwith“standard”EVsandwithhydrogen-basedEVs. Thepaperalsoanalyzeshowthe
introduction of EVs in L&T systems generates newvariants of thewell-knownVehicle Routing
Problem, one of the most studied optimization problems in the L&T field, and proposes the
use of metaheuristics and simheuristics as the most efficient way to deal with these complex
optimizationproblems.
Keywords: electricvehicles; logisticsandtransportation;greenvehicle routingproblems
1. Introduction
Logisticsandtransportation (L&T)activities representakeysector inworldwideeconomies,and
are a significant contributor to social andeconomicprogress inmodern societies. Theprevalence
of theL&T industry isdue to its constantgrowthand impact in termsof regionalGrossDomestic
Product (GDP). Inparticular, roadL&Tactivitiesusingmotorizedvehicleshavesignificantly increased
in response to the rise of globalization and commercial interchanges among countries. With the
aim of making them more efficient, L&T systems have been widely studied by the Operations
Research/ComputerScience (OR/CS)communities fordecades.Dueto itspotentialapplications to
real-life operations, oneof themost recurrent topics in theL&T literature is that ofmodelingand
Energies 2016,9, 86;doi:10.3390/en9020086 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies85
Emerging Technologies for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
- Title
- Emerging Technologies for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
- Editor
- MDPI
- Location
- Basel
- Date
- 2017
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-03897-191-7
- Size
- 17.0 x 24.4 cm
- Pages
- 376
- Keywords
- electric vehicle, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), energy sources, energy management strategy, energy-storage system, charging technologies, control algorithms, battery, operating scenario, wireless power transfer (WPT)
- Category
- Technik