Mobile Charging On-Demand Service

Mobile charging is an emerging technology that combines connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology and mobile vehicle-to-vehicle (wireless or cable-connected) charging (V2VC) or automated battery swapping (ABS) technology to provide charging on demand services for eliminating lengthy charging delays or detours, alleviating EV “range anxiety”, and promoting mass adoption of EVs. Specifically, it uses electric vans (Figure 3(a)) or battery swapping services (Figure 3(b)) as mobile chargers or swappers for on-demand roadside charging. The AI⁺CASE Lab develops innovative and viable solutions to mobile charging on-demand (CoD) services, leveraging these emerging charging technologies. Specifically, by publishing multiple research papers since 2019, the AI⁺CASE Lab contributed the methodologies to enable (i) large-scale CoD via on-the-move charging (Figure 3(c)) or mobile battery swapping (Figure 3(d))) while balancing service efficiency and traffic overhead; (ii) pairing electric vans and demand on a road for safe and efficient on-the-move V2VC charging  (Figure 3(e)); (iii) resilient and optimal charging station plan (Figure 3(f))

Figure 3. Mobile charging as service. (a) Mobile cable-connected V2VC. (b) Mobile battery swapping.. (c) and (d): Dispatching, routing and rebalancing of electric vans. (e) Pairing electric van and demand on a road. (f) Resilient and optimal charging station planning.

Funding sources: NSF career award, 1818526; NSF award, 2124858; STRIDE UTC B6 project; STRIDE UTC F2 project.