A Bellman-Ford approach to energy efficient routing of electric vehicles

Most experts foresee more demand for electric and plug-in electric vehicles. This demand is triggered by environmental concerns, energy dependency, and unstable fuel prices. Available vehicle routing algorithms are designed for fossil-fuelled vehicles. These algorithms optimize for the shortest distance or the shortest travel time between 2 points. Dijkstra or Dijkstra-like algorithms are mostly used for solving such optimization problems. Energy-efficient routing for electric vehicles, on the other hand, requires different approaches as it cannot be solved using Dijkstra or Dijkstra-like algorithms. Negative path costs generated by regenerative braking, battery power and energy limits, and vehicle parameters that are only available at query time, make the task of electric vehicle energy-efficient routing a challenging problem. In this paper, we present a solution approach to the electric vehicle energy efficient routing problem using Bellman-Ford. Bellman-Ford is a deterministic optimization method that is capable of solving routes with negative paths. A model representing electric vehicles is presented. Bellman-Ford search is then applied on the model and is used to find the most energy efficient route. The generated solution is then used to guide the electric vehicle through the desired path. The performance of the Bellman - Ford algorithm is then studied by applying the implemented algorithm on different map sizes.