Electric ambulances: will the need for charging affect response times?

Abstract

When ambulance providers consider transitioning from diesel to electric vehicles, several factors need to be assessed to ensure that response times are not negatively impacted. This paper focuses on range, non-negligible charging times and charging infrastructure. We developed ELASPY, a Python open-source discrete-event simulator that simulates the emergency response process, and used it to predict under which battery capacities and charger locations an electric ambulance fleet would achieve response times comparable to the equivalent diesel fleet. We include a case study for the province of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and derive managerial insights that were received with great interest by practitioners. Our results did not reveal concerning signals for daily operations; however, the sting is in the tail, and even EMS providers with a low busyness will have to think about calamities, such as prolonged power outages.

Keywords: battery electric vehicles, discrete-event simulator, ambulances, emergency medical services