Towards efficient charging schemes for free-floating rental BEVs

Extant research on Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) stress the significance of appropriate charging facilities that are available within reach when needed. For a BEV rental agency that provides free-floating rental vehicles, keeping the vehicles in charged state relies on the availability of convenient charging facilities across a wide area (e.g., city) and rental customers to properly connect vehicle to charger upon returning the vehicle. While a BEV that has zero charge is as good as its absence from the rental customer's perspective, one that does not have enough charge for the short trip envisioned by the renter may suffer a similar fate. We study the dynamics associated with charging BEVs in a free-floating rental platform. Specifically, we model and determine the optimal charged state of BEV rental vehicles in a free-floating platform.