The Impacts of Battery Capacity Degradation on Optimizing BEBs Transit System Configuration

Implementing battery electric buses (BEBs) in transit is considered a sustainable mobility means. However, various planning and operational challenges impede the full adoption of BEBs. Currently, BEB system optimization practice assumes that BEBs will deliver the same performance (battery capacity) over the entire service lifespan. However, BEBs' batteries will degrade over time, leading to a limited operating range. As such, the present study addresses the impact of BEBs' battery degradation on the BEB system infrastructure and component sizing optimization. The study develops a multi-stage optimization model to optimize BEB infrastructure and component sizing, considering battery degradation over the transit system service lifespan. The trade-off between adding charging infrastructure and/or battery replacement is assessed. The results show that adding more charging piles is more cost-effective than replacing the batteries for small hup-and-spoke transit networks. The results also show some insights to improve the adoption of BEBs in transit.