Influence of battery capacity on performance of an electric vehicle fleet

In this study, the influence of electric vehicle (EV) range on overall performance of an EV fleet is analysed. Various case-studies are investigated in which the EV fleet is simulated to cover a number of target points in a typical delivery problem. A trip scheduling algorithm is proposed in order to get all target points while considering the EVs range. The critical role of EV range in performance improvement of the whole fleet is analysed and an optimum EV range is obtained with regard to the whole fleet mileage. The results demonstrate that 250 km is an optimum range for an EV fleet to work in an area of 100×100 km². The number of target points, called task density, doesn’t affect the optimum EV range very much and it can be determined only based on size of the service area. Finally, lithium-sulfur battery is discussed as a promising technology to extend EV range.