Operational and Planning Perspectives on Battery Swapping and Wireless Charging Technologies: A Multidisciplinary Review

Abstract

The electrification of the transportation system is considered one of the most viable solutions to address the pressing need to shift towards sustainable development. However, one of the major challenges to the rapid adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is the lack of the right charging infrastructure where and when it is needed. Motivated by the necessity for a multidisciplinary approach, this study addresses the complex operational and planning challenges involved in integrating transportation and electrical networks for effective EV charging. Thus, this research aims to survey the literature to identify the adopted technologies, and the application and allocation of the right mix of the technologies to better serve the seamless adoption of EVs. That problem is multifaced where transportation network requirements and the electrical grid are important to support the charging loads at the needed time. The literature survey adopts the PRISMA methodology, contributing to the existing literature by highlighting the following shortcomings: 1) the problem of allocating the charging technology is either purely viewed from a transportation or an electrical perspective, 2) there is a gap in adopting both networks’ requirements comprehensively, 3) the literature predominately focuses on a single technology either battery swapping or wireless charging, 4) introducing new technologies highlights the impact of each on both networks in terms of return of investment, traffic flows, and power grids operational conditions, 5) research direction is focused more towards operation and routing while service allocation is relatively new and has not yet been extensively explored, and 6) transportation network research focuses on a static representation of the transportation network and EV demand. This study’s main contribution, besides identifying critical gaps in the existing literature and possible future research directions, is the proposal of a novel framework that integrates multiple charging technologies. This framework is designed to optimize infrastructure deployment, enhancing the efficiency and economic viability of EV charging systems across both transportation and electrical networks.