Overnight charging of an electric bus fleet
Which bus charges when, at which charger and with how much power — so every bus is ready for its morning block without overloading the grid connection?
Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom. The schedule below plays the plan; hover a bar for details. Plan computed with a Timefold model.
The planning question
A regional bus depot with 24 electric buses, 6 DC and 4 AC chargers and a 900 kW grid connection. The buses return from service between 18:00 and 01:30 and need a minimum state of charge for their first block between 04:30 and 06:45. Plugging every bus in on arrival overloads the connection in the evening, exactly when prices are highest.
How we plan it
Timefold plans charging sessions like jobs on machines, with a grid balance over all 15-minute slots — the same structure as energy-aware production.
What the plan shows
| KPI | Optimized plan | Comparison: plug in on arrival, full power |
|---|---|---|
| grid peak | 680 kW −418 | 1,098 kW |
| cost per night | 998 € −453 | 1,451 € |
| average price | 74 €/MWh −56 | 130 €/MWh |
| grid overloads | 0 −6 | 6 |
| buses ready | 24 / 24 | 24 / 24 |
Decisions
- charger, start and power level per bus
- which buses wait parked and are moved to a charger later
Constraints
- one bus per charger at a time
- charging only between arrival and departure
- state of charge at departure for the first block
- grid import ≤ 900 kW in every 15-minute slot
Objective
every bus ready, low energy cost at night prices, a low peak
Questions
Do the drivers have to move buses at night?
Some buses wait parked and are moved to a free charger later; the plan counts these shunting moves and keeps them few.
What about delays and changed blocks?
Late arrivals or swapped blocks re-plan the rest of the night; sessions already running stay fixed.
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