Implementation Cost Comparison of Electric Vehicle Energy Replenishment Technologies for Public Transit Bus Systems

Several technologies have been developed for optimizing the use of electric vehicles, especially with regard to replenishment of the energy supply. A novel model with which to compare the implementation cost of various replenishment technologies is proposed. Petri nets were used to calculate the minimum amount of resources required to implement each of the solutions given a specific headway. Three case studies are presented, the results of which led to the conclusion that on shorter headways, battery swap systems are preferred, followed by in-motion grid-provided systems, and that on longer headways, battery recharge systems are preferred for total implementation cost. The in-motion grid-provided systems showed a lower overall operation cost over the headway range; this result indicates a potentially lower overall implementation cost if the complete life-cycle cost is taken into account.