A Benchmark Analysis of Open Source Transportation-Electrification Simulation Tools

Electrified transportation has emerged as a trend to support energy efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction targets. Electric (road) vehicles are one of the main features associated with transportation electrification. They aim to reduce the use of non-renewable vehicle's fuel resources (Petrol, Diesel, etc.) and depend on renewable energy. However, EVs interact with three interconnected systems: the transportation system, the electric power grid, and their supporting information systems often called intelligent transportation systems (ITS). Therefore, the true success of electric vehicles depends on their successful integration with the infrastructure systems that support them. Consequently, transportation electrification as a new trend requires simulation tools that are capable of building-up schemes close to real life scenarios. This paper presents a benchmark analysis of open source transportation electrification simulation tools. The holistic assessment consists of a 2 level analysis. First, a list of available traffic simulation tools open source and commercial is classified into macro, meso and microscopic simulators. Second, an in-depth comparison analysis is conducted for only micro & mesoscopic open source tools. This analysis aims to depict the overall features of these tools such as inclusion of electric vehicle functionality, source-code accessibility & customizability and simulation performance. The study finds that while none of these tools has truly addressed the breadth of transportation electrification research, MATSIM, SUMO and TRANSIMS all have promising characteristics for future development.