Optimum route for e-car according to battery capacity and charging point locations

Question

Hi all,

I'm trying to solve a problem which involves the calculation of the optimum route for e-car according to battery capacity and charging point locations using ArcGIS Network Analyst.
My datasets are the road network and the locations of the charging points.
I found a solution which involves the use of the Service Areas approach: I calculate distance buffers around the charging stations using as distance the number of miles that the e-car can travel with a fully charged battery, then I exclude the segments of road that are not included in the buffers and so on.

I was just wondering if there is a more refined way to solve this problem.

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Francesco

JoeBorgione · Answer

Perhaps one of the ESRI guys can chime in...

Short answer is NA is a data and consequently labor intensive endeavor.

FrancescoPilla · Answer

Hi Joe,

many thanks for your reply and suggestions!

I was wondering if there is a set of specific settings or tools that I can use to refine my analysis.
The way I'm doing it now requires a series of steps which also involves the trimming of the network, so I feel my approach is a bit clumsy.

Thanks,
F

JoeBorgione · Answer

Hi all,

I'm trying to solve a problem which involves the calculation of the optimum route for e-car according to battery capacity and charging point locations using ArcGIS Network Analyst.
My datasets are the road network and the locations of the charging points.
I found a solution which involves the use of the Service Areas approach: I calculate distance buffers around the charging stations using as distance the number of miles that the e-car can travel with a fully charged battery, then I exclude the segments of road that are not included in the buffers and so on.

I was just wondering if there is a more refined way to solve this problem.

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Francesco

You can always refine your approach: how much time/$$ do you want to spend?

A fully charged e-car may not run as long at 55 mph versus 25 mph.  So maybe you should include speed limits as part of your model.  An e-car may not run as long up hill as it does down hill, so maybe z/elevation data might be useful.  And what about temperature?  Does an e-car run as long at 55 degrees f as it does at 25 degrees f?