Spatio-Temporal Charging Availability Optimization for Electric Trucks: A perspective of hub strategies

Spatio-Temporal Charging Availability Optimization for Electric Trucks: A perspective of hub strategies | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Spatio-Temporal Charging Availability Optimization for Electric Trucks: A perspective of hub strategies Zhongwei Luo, Tao Feng, Gen Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7053427/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract For truck electrification, prioritizing high charging availability, which minimizes a driver’s total time cost including travel and waiting, is more critical than maximizing spatial accessibility. This study introduces a data-driven framework to optimize charging station placement for availability, using real-world Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) 2.0 trajectory data from Tokyo. Our multi-agent simulations model the competitive, self-interested behavior of drivers to minimize total time cost, which includes both travel and waiting periods. A key finding is the emergence of a hub-based strategy: the optimization process spontaneously clusters stations into high-capacity hubs to mitigate congestion. This emergent strategy significantly outperforms traditional accessibility-focused placements, achieving up to a 22.9% reduction in average time cost. This work provides strong evidence that policy for electric truck charging should shift from a dispersal strategy to one of strategic consolidation. Developing these efficient, high-availability hubs offers a more economically viable path to accelerate sustainable freight transport. Scientific community and society/Energy and society Physical sciences/Energy science and technology Physical sciences/Engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7053427","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":486643193,"identity":"f5527573-32c9-4ed0-9c08-908091bab3b1","order_by":0,"name":"Zhongwei Luo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hiroshima University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhongwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Luo","suffix":""},{"id":486643194,"identity":"ad22e1c0-1eed-40a7-a43d-6b7b52075a8e","order_by":1,"name":"Tao Feng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCD0AsZ8AMJBkbJOCizLiU8wDVzQDSxqRrSdzAANZChKPs2Q8fbPi4ozZ9Ozvvw4c/d1hE8zfwGDD8qGFgN8dlC09aYuPMM8dzdzazGxvznpHInXGAx4Cx5xgDsyUOK3kYcswf87Ydy91wmI1NmrFNIrfh/hsDBt4GBmaDAzi08L8xbP7bdizdAKhF8idQy3yQLX/xaZHIMWxmbKtJAGmR4AVq2QDUwozXlhvPEht72w4YAh3GbAzSsvEAW8FhmWMSOP3C3p98sOFnW528wfljjA+BjNx5B5g3PnxTY5OMK8Sg4DAqF+gkiWQD/FrqMIXsCGgZBaNgFIyCkQMAi+hXnu5Tjn8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Hiroshima University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tao","middleName":"","lastName":"Feng","suffix":""},{"id":486643195,"identity":"6c688134-78d0-47cb-9b7c-85f9a8753598","order_by":2,"name":"Gen Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hiroshima University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gen","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-05 13:38:22","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7053427/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7053427/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100788025,"identity":"fd3c57c3-2b3c-4c90-81eb-7498decfa8a8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-21 12:04:50","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":518904,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LatexFile.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7053427/v1_covered_f6f617a6-f186-4de2-abfa-46b6c865c47a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Spatio-Temporal Charging Availability Optimization for Electric Trucks: A perspective of hub strategies","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7053427/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7053427/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"For truck electrification, prioritizing high charging availability, which minimizes a driver’s total time cost including travel and waiting, is more critical than maximizing spatial accessibility. 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