Abstract:
The minibus taxi (MBT) is the dominant form of public transport across Sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA). With a growing global call for greener transport, MBTs are seen as a key sector of
implementation. The electrification of MBTs entails many challenges, including limited
electricity resources and the lack of understanding of MBTs’ operational behaviour. In this
paper, we estimate the electricity demand for future electric MBTs in the City of Tshwane,
South Africa. We use existing origin and destination mobility data, which originated from
vehicle-based tracking, and a micro-mobility simulation tool with an embedded electric
vehicle model, called EV-Fleet-Sim. This simulation tool uses various SUMO packages to
simulate mobility and calculate energy expenditure. The mobility dataset consists of
various stop locations from a MBT fleet’s daily operation. The simulator uses a routing
model, a virtual map, and a virtual driver model to convert the origin and destination data
to high-fidelity mobility traces. The results are used in the electro-kinetic model to estimate
the vehicles’ energy needs, from which charging opportunities can be derived. To illustrate
this process and outputs, eight exemplar taxis with different operational patterns are
selected for analysis. The results show a minimum and maximum median daily energy
usage of 56 kWh and 215 kWh respectively, based on the mean observed daily distances
travelled of 94 km to 330 km. While the energy demand varies significantly according to
trip length and type of operation of the sub-fleet of 8 vehicles, clear morning and afternoon
peaks are identified, along with charging opportunities during midday and at night.
