Thesis work 30hp - Solving electric vehicle routing problems considering time dependent factors

Ingress:

Thesis project at Scania is an excellent way of making contacts for your future working life. Many of our current employees started their career with a thesis project.

Background:

The shift towards a sustainable transport system is underway, and Scania is taking a leading role in driving it. As fleets transition to electric, new route planning approaches are required to reduce emissions and maximize vehicle utilization, supporting Scania’s commitment to sustainability. However, route planning for fleets with electric vehicles is still a challenge when considering real world factors such as traffic, that varies depending on when a route is driven. Many existing algorithms assume that travel times and charging times are independent of previous choices, but when considering time dependent factors, such as traffic and charger availability, this assumption no longer holds. When to charge and rest can greatly increase the impact of these time dependent factors.

Target:

The goal of the thesis project is to formulate electric and hybrid vehicle routing problems and develop methods for solving them. As an extension fleet optimization may be considered. The vehicle routing problems can be formulated as mathematical optimization problems and solved using (meta)-heuristics (e.g. ant colony optimization), algorithms (e.g. labelling algorithms/multi-label Dijkstra, Column Generation) or Mixed-Integer Programming.

Example of assignments:

• Develop algorithms or heuristics for solving single electric vehicle routing problems with non-constant travel times and/or non-constant charging times while considering e.g. charger availability, driving time restrictions or time windows
• As an extension, develop algorithms or heuristics for solving hybrid vehicle routing problems
• As an extension, develop algorithms or heuristics for solving electric fleet routing problems
• As an extension, develop algorithms or heuristics for solving mixed fleet (combustion, electric and hybrid) routing problems

The exact thesis formation will be discussed before starting to better match the applicant’s interest and background.

Education:

M.Sc. in Engineering or similar with an interest in computer science or mathematics.

Number of students: 1-2.

Start date: January/February 2026.

Estimated time needed: 20 weeks.

Contact person and supervisor:

Adrian Westerberg, Software Engineer, +46720839648, adrian.westerberg@scania.com.

Max Wippich, Software Engineer, +46722554802, max.wippich@scania.com.

Application:

Enclose CV, personal letter and transcript of grades[OG4] .

Please send your application to adrian.westerberg@scania.com.

A background check might be conducted for this position. We are conducting interviews continuously and may close the recruitment earlier than the date specified.