Connecting the Dots: A Comprehensive Modeling and Evaluation Approach to Assess the Performance and Robustness of Charging Networks for Battery Electric Trucks and Its Application to Germany
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript presents a methodology for the assessment of fast charging networks for electric trucks. The study is limited to Germany. This decreases slightly the scientific soundness of the research but is acceptable. Please, add specific information about this fact, especially adding in the paper's title the words “German case” or something in this meaning.
The paper is constructed well. The literature background is appropriate, the methodology and experiments are correct, and the figures and tables are clear and understandable. Results could be useful for other Researchers and other research.
I recommend publishing this study after small corrections like below.
The abstract shouldn’t contain shorts. “BET” is understandable, but I prefer the full name.
Please, add a scale (a line representing the characteristic distance) on all of the maps (figures 2, 5, A1).
Please, delete the double spaces that occurred here and there.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer;
Thank you very much for your time and your valuable feedback our article “Connecting the Dots: A Comprehensive Modeling and Evaluation Approach to Assess Performance and Robustness of Charging Networks for Battery Electric Trucks and its Application to Germany”, submitted to the World Electric Vehicle Journal. Please find our responses in the attached letter. We hope that we have been able to answer all points to your satisfaction and we look forward to receiving your positive feedback for publication.
Yours sincerely,
Georg Balke (corresponding author) on behalf of the authors
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe topic of the paper is certainly interesting and up-to-date, although the treatment must be brought to a higher level, highlighting the real contribution of the paper with respect to literature and the research gap you are going to cover with it.
Major issues are:
- At the beginning of the introduction consider to cite some papers about the Electrice vehicles adoption in Europe, such as:
Antonio Colmenar-Santos, Antonio-Miguel Muñoz-Gómez, Enrique Rosales-Asensio, África López-Rey, Electric vehicle charging strategy to support renewable energy sources in Europe 2050 low-carbon scenario, Energy, Vlume 183, 2019,Pages 61-74,ISSN 0360-5442,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.06.118.
Michele De Santis, Luca Silvestri, Antonio Forcina, Promoting electric vehicle demand in Europe: Design of innovative electricity consumption simulator and subsidy strategies based on well-to-wheel analysis, Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 270,2022,116279,ISSN 0196-8904,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116279.
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- At the end of introduction when you enumerate the contribution of your paper , please do not only provide a bullet list but also consider to explain in more detail the contribution of your research in a deeper detail to let the reader immediately aware of the principal contribution of your work, (the bullet sentence are too short and some of them too generic;
- Please, immediately give hint of what is the novelty of your paper with respect to literature;
- Why in your simulations you performed 160400 trials to identify the best route in terms of time to recharge, traveling time ?
- Why the annualization factor is equal to 1/283?
- In Fig.6 on the y-axis what do you mean by "share of traffic flow infeasible"?
- The CMN was a system proposed by you? Since in the comparison always are present WMN and CMN with generally CMN that outperforms WMN;
- From results , it is not clear what is the contribution of your study with respect to using WMN and CMN ?
- What are the connections between the use of your method and the support of using WMN and CMN?
- could you perform some comparison of results with other methods present in literature?
- What type of charging stations did you consider in your study? What was rhe charging capability of the charging stations?
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe English is fine.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your time and your valuable feedback our article “Connecting the Dots: A Comprehensive Modeling and Evaluation Approach to Assess Performance and Robustness of Charging Networks for Battery Electric Trucks and its Application to Germany”, submitted to the World Electric Vehicle Journal. We improved our manuscript significantly towards your remarks and suggestions and hope that we answer all points to your satisfaction. We are looking forward to receiving your positive feedback for publication. Please find our responses in the attached letter. Note, that we used citation numbers as present in our revised manuscript where possible and provide the references again at the end.
Yours sincerely,
Georg Balke (corresponding author) on behalf of the authors
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis study addresses the importance of fast charging infrastructure for electric trucks, focusing on successfully introducing BET (Battery Electric Trucks) technology. The authors acknowledge that there is currently no coherent fast-charging network available for trucks capable of traveling long distances. In this context, the document proposes a literature-based evaluation methodology for fast charging networks for electric trucks in Germany.
The main purpose of the methodology is to obtain a quantitative understanding of the performance and robustness of charging networks, taking into account deviations from idealized system parameters. Identifying critical loading sites from a transportation planning perspective is also desired. The proposed methodology integrates the modeling of infrastructure, vehicles, and operational strategies, using simulation and subsequent evaluation.
Factors such as charging station locations, charging rates, mandatory rest periods, and vehicle parameters are considered, along with traffic distribution according to publicly available data. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the performance and resilience of charging networks, and the results are applied to a case study of two proposed and newly created derivative networks. Although the proposed networks provide over 99% coverage for long-distance transport, it is found that there is a time loss of about 7% even under optimal conditions.
The findings of the study advance the understanding of the performance and resilience of the proposed charging networks, providing a solid foundation for the design and implementation of robust and efficient charging networks for electric trucks. We appreciate the effort of the authors in the detailed approach to this issue and their contribution to the studied field.
Observations:
1. Develop the assessment more about other studies and expose the novelty elements, although they exist, you need to highlight them even more.
2. Maybe you can make a comparison between the results obtained and other approaches carried out by other studies.
3. Can you explain the programs and languages used or how those graphics were extracted?
4. Is there an expected impact of the study about the Greenzone time plans, the 15-minute city, or how do these studies influence the reduction of CO2 emissions?
5. Can the studies also be applied in the modeling of traffic flows to reduce the number of deaths or road/railway accidents?
The article is written very well and has no syncope that would affect the publication, it has a logical narrative thread and I think it can be published if the observations presented are addressed.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageNo comments!
Author Response
Dear Reviewer;
Thank you very much for your time and your valuable feedback our article “Connecting the Dots: A Comprehensive Modeling and Evaluation Approach to Assess Performance and Robustness of Charging Networks for Battery Electric Trucks and its Application to Germany”, submitted to the World Electric Vehicle Journal. We hope that we have been able to answer all points to your satisfaction and we look forward to receiving your positive feedback for publication.
Yours sincerely,
Georg Balke (corresponding author) on behalf of the authors
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe Authors improved the paper according to the reviewer's comments.
The paper is suitable for publication.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe english is fine.
