Optimization of Electric Vehicle Carsharing Systems

Electric vehicle (EV) carsharing systems have emerged as a cornerstone of sustainable urban mobility, combining zero-emission propulsion with the convenience of shared fleets. The optimisation of such systems encompasses strategic planning of fleet size, station siting and charging infrastructure; operational decisions such as dynamic pricing, vehicle rebalancing and reservation management; and integration with multi-modal networks. At the planning stage, spatial–temporal demand forecasting and facility location models guide the deployment of charging points and depots to ensure accessibility and mitigate range anxiety. Operationally, advanced algorithms address the trade-off between user convenience and system efficiency. Techniques such as dynamic user equilibrium and stochastic programming capture uncertainties in demand and travel patterns to inform real-time relocation strategies, whether user-incentivised or operator-driven. Pricing schemes, including dynamic and zone-based tariffs, further modulate demand and encourage balanced utilisation. Emerging developments in data-driven analytics, real-time simulation and machine learning enable adaptive decision support for system operators. Recent work emphasises the interplay between electrification and shared mobility, demonstrating that well-calibrated optimisation can yield significant reductions in fleet size, energy consumption and operational cost, while enhancing service reliability. These advances highlight the global potential of optimised EV carsharing to reduce urban congestion, improve air quality and foster resilient transport ecosystems.

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Optimization of Electric Vehicle Carsharing Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in optimization of electric vehicle carsharing systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Electric vehicle (EV): A vehicle propelled by electric motors using energy stored in rechargeable batteries.

Carsharing system: A service providing shared access to a fleet of vehicles on demand, typically via membership or digital platform.

One-way carsharing: A model allowing vehicles to be picked up at one station and returned to another, enhancing user flexibility but introducing distributional imbalance challenges.

Relocation strategy: The set of operational measures, either user-based incentives or operator-driven tasks, to rebalance vehicle distribution across stations.

Dynamic user equilibrium (DUE): A model of traffic flow in which all users select routes and departure times to minimise individual disutility, resulting in a stable state where no user can unilaterally improve their outcome.

Two-stage stochastic programming: An optimisation framework that handles decision-making under uncertainty by making initial decisions followed by recourse actions once uncertain parameters are realised.

References

1. Combining analytics and simulation methods to assess the impact of shared, autonomous electric vehicles on sustainable urban mobility. Information & Management (2022).
2. Exact solutions to a carsharing pricing and relocation problem under uncertainty. Computers & Operations Research (2022).
3. Incentivized user-based relocation strategies for moderating supply–demand dynamics in one-way car-sharing services. Transportation Research Part E Logistics and Transportation Review (2023).