Strategic Planning of Charging Stations for Electric Public Transportation Bus Systems: a Case Study

Abstract

Fuel and natural gas are the main factors that drive many systems in many countries, but they have decreased because of the increased demand. However, the use of diesel fuel in public transport is one of the main reasons for the deterioration of air quality in the city. This article studies the strategic planning of charging stations for electric public transportation bus systems. Furthermore, it analyzes the investment costs of the service of electric buses compared with diesel buses by using routes in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima as a case study. The energy consumption of electric buses will also be analyzed in this article. The analysis shows that the electric bus has an energy consumption for traveling 1.169 kWh/km, and ten buses are services in one day. The electric bus charging strategy with the Plug-in charging system is the most suitable one, compared to the diesel bus system and the other charging strategies, since it has lower total investment cost of 11.37 million USD, and the battery investment is the highest one. The appropriate charging strategy depends on the route of the case study as well. If the distance is longer, the calculation of the charging station's investment, the number of buses, and the batteries may increase accordingly.