Abstract
The growth of environmental awareness and more robust enforcement of numerous regulations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have directed efforts towards addressing current environmental challenges. Considering the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), one of the effective strategies to control greenhouse gas emissions is to convert the fossil fuel-powered fleet into Environmentally Friendly Vehicles (EFVs). Given the multitude of constraints and assumptions defined for different types of VRPs, as well as assumptions and operational constraints specific to each type of EFV, many variants of environmentally friendly VRPs (EF-VRP) have been introduced. In this paper, studies conducted on the subject of EF-VRP are reviewed, considering all the road transport EFV types and problem variants, and classifying and discussing with a single holistic vision. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it determines a classification of EF-VRP studies based on different types of EFVs, i.e., Alternative-Fuel Vehicles (AFVs), Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid Vehicles (HVs). Second, it presents a comprehensive survey by considering each variant of the classification, technical constraints and solution methods arising in the literature. The results of this paper show that studies on EF-VRP are relatively novel and there is still room for large improvements in several areas. So, to determine future insights, for each classification of EF-VRP studies, the paper provides the literature gaps and future research needs.
Highlights
The increased social and environmental awareness has created growing support for environmental regulations to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The existence of a variety of Hybrid Vehicles (HVs) from the standpoint of characteristics such as type (Parallel, Series, Parallel-Series, Micro, Mild, Power-assist, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), etc., as shown in Table 4), load-carrying capacity, battery capacity, technology applied in batteries, and pricing raises the question of whether a fleet of different vehicles is effective in reducing the cost of distribution
This study presented a comprehensive review of the literature concerning on the Environmentally Friendly Routing Problem (EF-Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP))
Summary
The increased social and environmental awareness has created growing support for environmental regulations to control GHG emissions. The review papers that are somewhat related to this area are those published by Pelletier et al [14], Juan et al [15], Margaritis et al [16], Crainic et al [17], Schiffer et al [18], and Erdelicand Caric [19] These works have addressed the general usage of EVs in transportation and logistics and have partly mentioned the studies in the field of routing problem with AFVs, EVs, and HVs. The mentioned reviews did not present a proper classification for the EF-VRPs and did not discuss the technical characteristics of the variety of problems in this area. In recent years, many other works in the form of journal papers, conference papers, research reports, thesis, and books have been published in this area It presents a comprehensive survey by considering each variant of the classification, technical constraints, and solution methods arising in the literature.
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