Smart Markets for Real-Time Allocation of Multiproduct Resources: The Case of Shared Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Motivated by the deep transformation of the transportation sector toward electric and shared mobility, this research develops a decision support system that enables real-time allocation of shared electric vehicles (SEVs) to either the rental market or aggregated as a virtual power plant to the electricity market. The multipurposing of SEVs beyond the traditional scope of mobility services can boost utilization and profitability for fleet operators while also facilitating the integration of variable rate renewable energy sources. This SEV setting embodies the problem of real-time multiproduct resource allocation via smart markets. We develop an approach that leverages highly digitalized real-time markets and intelligent decision making to enable dynamic multiproduct resource allocation. The tool continuously evaluates market attractiveness and strategically places iterative bids on the resource owner’s behalf until all resources have been committed for a specific period. Our key contribution is to provide a blueprint for similar multi-product resource allocation settings, and demonstrating its efficacy in the domain of SEV fleets by developing tailored analytics and machine learning-based solutions.