Multisource-Multidestination Optimal Energy Routing in Static and Time-Varying Vehicular Energy Network

A vehicular energy network (VEN) uses electric vehicles (EVs) to transport energy across a wide geographical area. EVs can charge and discharge wirelessly at road junctions while moving and, thus, transfer energy between junctions. In this article, we propose a method to optimally route energy from multiple energy-supplying junctions to multiple energy-demanding junctions while minimizing energy loss in four different VEN scenarios: 1) a time-invariant VEN; 2) a VEN with time-varying vehicular flows and energy demands; 3) a VEN with time-varying vehicular flows and time-averaged demands; and 4) a VEN with significant storage capacities at junctions. The method employed to solve these scenarios is to model the VEN as a graph specific to each scenario, and then solve the generalized flow problem on the graph. Simulations are performed on all four scenarios and show that transmission efficiency improves when a small number of long vehicular routes are introduced, and when storage capacities at junctions increase. The error in approximating a time-varying VEN as a static VEN is also investigated.