Optimal deployment of dynamic wireless charging facilities for electric bus route considering stochastic travel times

Installing dynamic wireless charging (DWC) facilities on dedicated bus lanes endows electric buses (EBs) with the ability to charge while in motion, effectively overcoming the limitations of short driving ranges. However, if the facilities are deployed along the entire EB route, it would incur significant economic costs and result in resource wastage. In this study, we divide the EB route into segments including station segments, intersection segments, and elementary segments of road section. The fluctuations in travel times of different trips on these segments are described. To optimize the DWC deployment plan, a chance constraint programming model is established with the objective of minimizing the costs of purchasing power transmitters and inverters. A combined algorithm using stochastic simulation and particle swarm optimization is designed to solve the model. A real EB route is used to conduct the case study, and results indicate that it is more suitable to deploy DWC facilities in adjacent elementary segments of road section compared to individually distributed station segments or intersection segments. Additionally, as wireless charging power or battery capacity increases, the number of required inverters and the length of power transmitters decrease, resulting in a nonlinear decrease in the deployment costs of charging facilities.