Electric vehicle fleet size and trip pricing for one-way carsharing services considering vehicle relocation and personnel assignment

• Published in: Transportation research. Part B: methodological Vol. 111; pp. 60 - 82
• Main Authors: Xu, Min, Meng, Qiang, Liu, Zhiyuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2018; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Car sharing; Convex analysis; Convexity; Demand; Demand analysis; Electric vehicles; Fleet size; Global optimization; Global optimization method; Impact analysis; Materials elasticity; Mixed-integer convex programming model; Motor vehicle fleets; Nonlinear elastic demand; One-way carsharing services; Optimization techniques; Personnel; Prices; Pricing; Relocation; Trip pricing; One-way carsharing services; Fleet size; Electric vehicles; Global optimization method; Trip pricing; Mixed-integer convex programming model; Nonlinear elastic demand
• ISSN: 0191-2615; 1879-2367
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2018.03.001

•A mixed-integer nonlinear nonconvex model is developed for the EVFS&TP problem.•The nonlinear elastic demand is incorporated.•Vehicle relocation and personnel assignment are considered in the EVFS&TP problem.•An efficient global optimization algorithm is proposed. This study proposes an interesting electric vehicle fleet size and trip pricing (EVFS&TP) problem for one-way carsharing services by taking into account the necessary practical requirements of vehicle relocation and personnel assignment. The EVFS&TP problem aims to maximize the profit of one-way carsharing operators by determining the electric vehicle fleet size, trip pricing, and strategies of vehicle relocation and personnel assignment subject to the elastic demand for the one-way carsharing services. A mixed-integer nonlinear and nonconvex programming model is first built for the EVFS&TP problem. By exploiting the unique structure of the original built model, a mixed-integer convex programming model is subsequently developed. An effective global optimization method with several outer-approximation schemes is put up to find the global optimal or ε-optimal solution to the EVFS&TP problem. A case study based on a one-way carsharing operator in Singapore is conducted to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed model and solution method and further analyse the impact of demand, the degree of demand variation, the fixed operational cost of the vehicles as well as payment for personnel on the performance of the one-way carsharing services.