Simulation of Trip Chains in a Metropolitan Area to Evaluate the Energy Needs of Electric Vehicles and Charging Demand

The typical ranges available for electric vehicles (EVs) may be considered by users to be inadequate when compared to long, real-life trips, and charging operations may need to be planned along journeys. To evaluate the compatibility between vehicle features and charging options for realistic journeys performed by car, a simulation approach is proposed here, using travel data collected from real vehicles to obtain trip chains for multiple consecutive days. Car travel activities, including stops with the option of charging, were simulated by applying an agent-based approach. Charging operations can be integrated into trip chains for user activities, assuming that they remain unchanged in the event that vehicles switch to electric. The energy consumption of the analyzed trips, disaggregated by vehicle type, was estimated using the average travel speed, which is useful for capturing the main route features (ranging from urban to motorways). Data were recorded for approximately 25,000 vehicles in the Turin Metropolitan Area for six consecutive days. Market segmentation of the vehicles was introduced to take into consideration different energy consumption rates and charging times, given that the electric power, battery size, and consumption rate can be related to the vehicle category. Charging activities carried out using public infrastructure during idle time between consecutive trips, as well as those carried out at home or work, were identified in order to model different needs.