Hierarchical Coupled Driving-and-Charging Model of Electric Vehicles, Stations and Grid Operators

The decisions of operators from both the transportation and the electrical systems are coupled due to Electric Vehicles’ (EVs) actions. Thus, decision-making requires a model of several interdependent operators and of EVs’ both driving and charging behaviors. Such a model is suggested for the electrical system in the context of commuting, which has a typical trilevel structure. At the lower level of the model, a congestion game between different types of vehicles gives which driving paths and charging stations (or hubs) commuters choose, depending on travel duration and energy consumption costs. At the middle level, a Charging Service Operator sets the charging prices at the hubs to maximize the difference between EV charging revenues and electricity supplying costs. These costs directly depend on the supplying contract chosen by the Electrical Network Operator at the upper level of the model, whose goal is to reduce grid costs. This trilevel optimization problem is solved using an optimistic iterative algorithm and simulated annealing. The sensitivity of this trilevel model to exogenous parameters such as the EV penetration and an incentive from a transportation operator is illustrated on realistic urban networks. This model is compared to a standard bilevel model in the literature (only one operator).