A Petri Net model for fleet sizing of Electric Car Sharing Systems

Abstract

This paper deals with two basic design problems that incur in a modern city transportation strategy, i.e., the Electric Car Sharing System (ECSS). Modelling the system in a modular Timed Petri Net (TPN) framework, the optimal fleet size and the number of charging positions of the ECSS are determined by a simulation analysis. The ECSS dynamics is described by taking into account fully charged, partially charged and out of power electric vehicles. Moreover, TPNs allow taking into account some particular events, like specific user flows in different time bands or the exit of the customers from the station after waiting for the availability of electric cars. A simulation study points out the effectiveness of the proposed design strategy.