Joint Optimization of Collaborative Delivery Routes and Charging Station Locations for Electric Vehicles and Drones

In the current context of achieving carbon neutrality, energy transition has become imperative. For the automotive sector, replacing traditional fuel-powered vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) offers the most effective solution. In logistics, deploying EVs for delivery can significantly reduce costs. This paper proposes a novel model to address the problem of collaborative delivery using drones and electric vehicles based on a genetic algorithm (GA). Furthermore, it incorporates the siting of charging stations as part of the model. A new logic for the deployment and retrieval of drones is developed and implemented in the algorithm. Unlike previous models constrained by fixed charging requirements, this model enables EVs to proactively decide whether to recharge at charging stations when visiting specific customer nodes, ensuring that the remaining range of EVs never falls below zero within the mathematical framework.