Charge sharing model using inductive power transfer to increase feasibility of electric vehicle taxi fleets

Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining popularity amongst everyday commuters, but are still having a hard time penetrating the fleet vehicle market. In this paper, we investigate a model which does not require changes to current street infrastructure using charge sharing through inductive power transfer to determine if we can extend the driving range of EVs enough such that taxicab fleets can become EVs. Using fisheye state routing to coordinate rendezvous points, and a simple heuristic where cars exchange charge when there is excess available, we show that we can effectively increase the EV driving distance without needing to recharge. We use real data from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to model taxicab usage behavior and the United States Department of Transportation Omnibus Survey to model commuter vehicle usage. Using this data, we demonstrate that an electric taxicab fleet could function with minimal disturbance (failure <; 5%).