Wireless charging facility location decision in the context of microscopic traffic dynamics

The battery electric vehicle (BEV) is one of the viable alternatives to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV), and it is promoted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transportation. However, the long charging time and insufficient charging facilities lead to “range anxiety”, inhibiting the development of BEVs. Wireless charging (WC) technology has begun to be applied to BEV, helping achieve dynamic recharging when vehicles move on the roadway. An adequate deployment of WC facilities allows BEV travelers to complete trips without needing to stop for recharging. Thus, the WC facility location decision is an essential optimization problem to solve before the technology matures and the facilities are installed. As the vehicle dynamics, such as speed and acceleration, depend on the traffic state, the energy consumption is also dynamic. The deployment of WC facilities based on constant speed and energy consumption may not satisfy the charging needs, and energy stored in the battery can even run out during the trip. Microscopic traffic dynamics are considered in the location optimization problem of the WC facility by introducing a car-following simulation. At a given BEV battery capacity and WC facility number, the shortest length of each facility allowing no-stopping recharging is calculated by the bisection method. With an increase in BEV demand, the societal cost (including both BEVs and WC facilities) increases, but BEV battery capacity reduces, and both WC facility number and length rise based on the optimization method. Similar tendencies emerge even if the drivers have heterogeneity of aggressive or nonaggressive driving behavior. Policy implications (including WC facility replacement and renovation, financial support, safety-driving advertisements, and legal punishment policies) are proposed to promote the development of WC facilities. Our research outcomes can provide a logical design framework for commercializing and deploying the WC system and further reduce the greenhouse emissions of the transport industry by increasing the penetration rate of electric vehicles.