Macroscopic Modelling and Control of Heavy-Duty Electric Road Systems

Electric road systems (ERS), where power is delivered to the vehicles as they drive, are an intriguing option for road freight sector electrification. In order to analyse various aspects of their operation, such as their economical feasibility, or their influence on the power system, appropriate modelling approaches are needed. While microscopic, agent-based models have successfully been used for this purpose, their complexity makes them unsuitable for control design and implementation. In this work, we propose a macroscopic model, capturing the interaction between the ERS and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicles (HDEVs) on a road with significantly varying slope, capable of describing and predicting the power demand at individual ERS substations. Based on the model, we formulate control laws that help better distribute the power demand, improving the ERS utilization. Finally, we investigate the impact of various ERS and HDEV parameters, such as maximum substation power and battery size, in a case study.