This paper presents an agent-based simulation study aimed at evaluating the impact of different charging strategies on the performance of home grocery delivery operation using electric vans. In our previous work we established the quantity of orders that can be delivered using electric vans; in this paper we focus on the punctuality of the delivery. We present a baseline agent-based model imitating the operations of a real-world retailer. We then introduce electric vans into our model in order to ascertain how charging power and charging strategy influence the retailer’s operations. Even though electric vans cannot match the performance of diesel vehicles using the same fleet size, our simulation experiments suggest that, by considering the quantity of orders and the geographical distribution of its customers, an operator can determine a suitable charging strategy that can minimise late delivery. Additionally, by employing a suitable charging strategy, an operator might avoid making unnecessary investments and reduce the barriers for electric vehicle adoption.

本文提出了一种基于代理的模拟研究，旨在评估不同收费策略对使用电动货车的家庭杂货店送货业务的影响。在之前的工作中，我们确定了可以使用电动货车交付的订单数量；在本文中，我们将重点放在准时交货上。我们提出了一个基于基准代理的模型，该模型模仿了实际零售商的运营。然后，我们在模型中引入电动货车，以确定充电功率和充电策略如何影响零售商的运营。即使电动货车无法在相同车队规模下达到柴油车的性能，我们的模拟实验也表明，通过考虑订单量和客户的地理分布，操作员可以确定合适的计费策略，以最大程度地减少延迟交付。另外，通过采用适当的充电策略，操作员可以避免进行不必要的投资并减少电动车辆采用的障碍。