Collaborative Optimization of Battery Charging / Swapping Stations for eVTOLs Based on Closed-Loop Supply Chain and Space-Time Network

Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft face challenges like limited battery energy density, high power demand, and difficulties in rapid energy replenishment, which restrict their endurance and application scenarios. Therefore, researching efficient energy replenishment schemes for eVTOL batteries is imperative. This paper proposes a closed-loop supply chain-based model for the eVTOL battery charging and swapping system, where a space-time network is employed to schedule batteries and logistics. To maximize system revenue, this model optimizes the battery swapping, transportation, and charging processes, enabling efficient joint operations among eVTOLs, swapping stations, and charging stations. The model is solved by Gurobi, and simulation results confirm its feasibility.