E-Grocery Delivery: The Electric Vehicle Challenge

What challenges do you see in the world of e-grocery delivery?

George Ninikas elaborates: “Picture this: a world where your weekly grocery haul arrives at your doorstep, not with the familiar rumble of a gasoline engine but in the hush of an electric vehicle (EV).“

Challenges E-Grocery Delivery:

As we dive into the world of e-grocery delivery, we're met with a set of intriguing challenges and innovative solutions.

1. Limited Driving Range: EVs have a restricted driving range. Ensuring enough range and managing charging is crucial for uninterrupted deliveries.
2. Charging Infrastructure: Having accessible charging stations is vital. A robust charging network is needed to efficiently charge EVs and reduce driver stress.
3. Charging Time: EVs often require longer charging times. Planning should account for this, with different recharging policies for night and roundtrips.
4. Load Capacity & Vehicle Types: Different-sized vehicles are used, and some EVs may have limited load capacity. A variety of EVs should handle different grocery items.
5. Scalability: Managing a large EV fleet is complex. Optimizing fleet operations, such as routing and charging logistics, is essential for efficient and timely deliveries.

From the limited driving range of EVs to the importance of building a robust charging infrastructure, we'll uncover the obstacles and opportunities in this electrifying revolution. Let's embark on a journey through the challenges and solutions that shape the future of e-grocery delivery with electric vehicles.

What is ORTEC's vision addressing EV's for e-Grocery Delivery?

George Ninikas outlines five crucial areas where ORTEC aims to contribute to the integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into e-grocery delivery:

1. Planning Considerations
2. Assignment on Charging Stations
3. Enabling Real-Time Control
4. Supporting Analytics Apps
5. Complete EV Proposition

1. Planning Considerations:

The planning phase is paramount in addressing the specific constraints of electric vehicles. George emphasizes the need to consider factors like range limitations and charging infrastructure in the planning process. Charging time also plays a critical role, requiring careful consideration before dispatching a vehicle for subsequent trips or rounds. The optimization objective for EVs differs from traditional vehicles, requiring a calibration that prioritizes factors such as zero-emission zones and maximizes vehicle utilization.

So, in summary, there are constraint sets and optimization objectives for planning EVs?

George Ninikas concludes: “Yes, indeed. Dealing with electric vehicles, especially in a mixed fleet scenario, requires a calibrated optimizer considering the unique characteristics of EVs. Traditional optimization models may fall short without accounting for these factors.”

Adding to George's insights, Lorenzo Simons continues: “We are currently addressing client-specific constraints and conducting research to determine which constraints are truly relevant for optimization. Over the next year, we aim to incorporate these findings into our routing engines.” George Ninikas reflexts: “In the context of a mixed fleet, where both electric and traditional fuel vehicles coexist, it becomes imperative to calibrate the optimizer to accommodate the characteristics of electric vehicles. Let's move on to the second point: the assignment to charging stations.”

2. Assignment on Charging Stations:

George Ninikas continues: “Moving on to the second crucial area: the assignment to charging stations. Once the delivery routes are established, the challenge is to synchronize the charging schedules of the vehicles with these routes.” George emphasizes the need to determine optimal charging policies and integrate them into the routing process, considering external factors like weather conditions, driver profiles, payload weight, and the dynamic nature of routes throughout the day. Charging may occur at specific locations or dynamically based on the route, adding complexity to the optimization process.

Lorenzo Simons emphasizes: “Expanding on this, our current focus is primarily on charging at the depot, a key concern for our customers. We've developed a prototype solution to address this, allowing us to load routes generated by ORTEC Routing software into the tool, providing a charging schedule. Our vision for the next year involves further investigation into the potential of this tool as an add-on charging solution, considering its integration into our routing software. The ongoing investigation also explores potential collaborations with other companies in the electro-mobility space.”

George Ninikas responds: “Indeed, we're prototyping the solution around charging schedules, intending to delve deeper into its development to best cater to our customers' needs. Collaborations with external stakeholders are also under consideration.”

3. Enabling Real-Time Control:

Let's move on to the next topic: enabling real-time control. George elaborates on the seamless progression from planning routes and assigning charging schedules to the execution phase. Real-time control becomes crucial during execution, providing feedback to the planning phase based on the status of vehicles, including battery charging state and remaining range. The ability to dynamically allocate vehicles to charging stations or address unforeseen issues is essential. ORTEC aims to equip its customers with effective tools for real-time monitoring and decision-making based on live conditions.

Lorenzo Simons expands: “In line with this, we're exploring the integration of external APIs that provide real-time fleet data. The idea is to leverage information from external sources to enhance our tools' capabilities for reoptimization. While it's still in the investigatory phase, the potential use of APIs for real-time data is being considered.”

George Ninikas concludes: “Emphasizing the importance of data, we can highlight that enabling real-time control relies on accurate information from the field, such as data from vehicle systems and the electric vehicle's battery state. This is facilitated by modern technologies like IoT, emphasizing that data input comes from hardware, not just within ORTEC.”

That's a comprehensive insight. What's next on our agenda?

4. Supporting Analytics Apps:

Let's delve into the fourth area. George highlights the importance of aiding customers not just in planning, charging, and real-time control but also in the monitoring phase. ORTEC aims to provide analytical solutions and performance analysis tools. These tools will enable customers to review daily operations, analyze current performance against historical data, and gain insights into various metrics, such as cost-to-serve and CO2-to-serve. George emphasizes the introduction of self-learning driving range analytics, leveraging machine learning algorithms. These algorithms learn from historical data to predict battery consumption and vehicle range for future planning rounds, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.

Lorenzo Simons suggests: “Expanding on this, we're actively involved in a research line developing a machine learning model. This model aims to precisely estimate battery consumption, considering factors like elevation profile, weather, and driver speed. Anticipated to have a working version by May or June 2024, this initiative aligns with the growing interest from our customers. It's an exciting development”, Lorenzo concludes.

Now, let's move on to the fifth and final point, right?

5. Complete EV Proposition:

George Ninikas responds: ”Exactly. We've covered operational aspects like planning, execution, real-time support, and monitoring through analytics. Now, we aim to go beyond daily operations and assist customers in strategic decision-making. This involves addressing questions like the optimal distribution of electric vehicles across distribution centers, network design, and energy sourcing considerations. We're not just about the daily grind; we want to support our customers in making informed decisions that have a broader and long-term impact on their operations.”

Lorenzo Simons adds: “And it extends to decisions on energy sourcing. For instance, do you invest in solar panels for your depot, and how do you manage your grid connection? These decisions play a crucial role, especially as many customers face challenges like network congestion and limitations on grid upgrades. We're actively advising and providing tools to aid in infrastructure decision-making and investment planning.”

George Ninikas prompts: ”Exactly. These tools contribute significantly to investment decisions, especially in optimizing infrastructure for electric vehicle deployment.”

As we wrap up, what recommendations do you have for our customers?

“In wrapping up,” George concludes, “it's essential to clarify that, at this stage, we're in the prototype and visionary phase. Quantifiable benefits are not immediately available, as this is an ongoing evaluation and investigation. However, we anticipate that our electric vehicle-focused solutions will become a crucial extension of our traditional planning and execution tools. With the shift towards electric vehicles in the routing industry, especially in city distribution sectors like grocery delivery and courier services, we envision the need for these considerations to become standard. Many of our customers have plans to transition a significant portion of their fleets to electric vehicles by 2030, particularly in Europe. Our goal is to provide the right tools that cover the entire process, from planning to execution, and extend to additional applications.”

Lorenzo Simons suggests: “Expanding on George's point, our vision for these tools is to create routing solutions that can seamlessly support any fleet configuration for our customers. We aim for user-friendly interfaces and a continuous improvement feedback loop, incorporating real-world execution data to enhance battery state and vehicle status information. As battery technologies evolve, our tools will automatically adapt and update, ensuring ongoing relevance and effectiveness.”