Facility introduction plan support system and facility introduction plan support method

Abstract

To realize user support for appropriately creating an introduction plan of facilities including an electric vehicle.SOLUTION: A facility introduction plan support system 10 performs user support to create an introduction plan of facilities including at least an electric vehicle. The facility introduction plan support system 10 comprises: a draft facility plan creation processing section 101 which creates one or more draft facility plans representing a facility introduction plan; a draft operation plan creation processing section 102 which creates one or more draft operation plans for each of the draft facility plan; an index calculation processing section 103 which calculates index values with respect to a plurality of predetermined indexes for each draft operation plan; an optimal operation plan group extraction processing section 104 which extracts an optimal operation plan group for each of the draft facility plans; and an index display processing section 105 which presents the index values for each of the draft operation plans included in the optimal operation plan group to a user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for assisting a user in formulating an introduction plan for a facility including an electric vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known businesses, such as taxi companies and transportation companies, that operate multiple business vehicles to carry out various businesses. In recent years, the introduction of electric vehicles has been increasing among the business vehicles used by such businesses as a measure against global warming. When introducing electric vehicles, it is necessary to install chargers according to the number of electric vehicles. Therefore, when a business introduces new or additional business vehicles, it is required to formulate an introduction plan for these facilities, including not only conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (internal combustion engine vehicles), but also electric vehicles and chargers.

[0003] Regarding operation management of electric vehicles, the technology of Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 describes an operation management device for electric vehicles that creates an operation plan by calculating the amount of power consumed by the electric vehicle when it operates on each route, calculating the amount of charging power to be charged to the electric vehicle at each charging station based on the amount of power consumption, and allocating the electric vehicle to each bus schedule based on the amount of charging power. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-106745 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The technology of Patent Document 1 is intended to create an operation plan for an electric vehicle, but cannot create an introduction plan for equipment that includes an electric vehicle.

[0006] The present invention has been made against this background, and a main objective thereof is to provide user assistance that enables appropriate formulation of introduction plans for facilities including electric vehicles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An equipment introduction plan support system according to the present invention is a system that supports a user in formulating an introduction plan for equipment including at least an electric vehicle, and includes an equipment plan proposal creation processing unit that creates one or more equipment plan proposals that represent the introduction plan for the equipment, an operation plan proposal creation processing unit that creates, for each of the equipment plan proposals, one or more operation plan proposals that specify the allocation of operation routes to each of a plurality of vehicles including the electric vehicle, an index calculation processing unit that calculates, for each of the operation plan proposals, index values ​​for a plurality of predetermined indexes when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route, an optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit that extracts, for each of the equipment plan proposals, one or more operation plan proposals from the operation plan proposals as an optimal operation plan group based on the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation processing unit, and an index display processing unit that presents the index values ​​of each operation plan proposal included in the optimal operation plan group to the user for each of the equipment plan proposals. An equipment introduction plan support method according to the present invention is a method for supporting a user who formulates an introduction plan for equipment including at least an electric vehicle, and includes a computer that executes the following steps: an equipment plan proposal creation process for creating one or more equipment plan proposals representing the introduction plan for the equipment; a plan operation plan creation process for creating, for each of the equipment plan proposals, one or more operation plan proposals that specify the allocation of operation routes to each of a plurality of vehicles including the electric vehicle; an index calculation process for calculating, for each of the operation plan proposals, index values ​​for a plurality of predetermined indexes when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route; an optimal operation plan group extraction process for extracting, for each of the equipment plan proposals, one or more operation plan proposals from the operation plan proposals as an optimal operation plan group based on the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation process; and an index display process for presenting to the user the index values ​​of each operation plan proposal included in the optimal operation plan group for each of the equipment plan proposals. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide user assistance that enables appropriate formulation of an introduction plan for equipment including electric vehicles. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an equipment introduction plan support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process executed in the facility introduction plan support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of information on a proposed facility plan in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of information about a proposed operation plan. [Diagram 5] 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating an example of information on index values ​​for each proposed facility plan and each proposed operation plan in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an optimal operation plan group extraction process in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an index value display screen in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of information on a proposed facility plan in the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 13A to 13C are diagrams illustrating an example of information on index values ​​for each proposed facility plan and each proposed operation plan in the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an index value display screen in the fourth embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] (First embodiment) Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an equipment introduction plan support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The equipment introduction plan support system 10 shown in Fig. 1 is a system that supports a user when the user formulates an introduction plan for equipment including an electric vehicle. The equipment introduction plan support system 10 is connected to an equipment information DB (database) 12, a vehicle information DB 13, a business information DB 14, a CO2 simulator 16, an electricity cost / fuel consumption simulator 18, a battery simulator 20, and an HMI (Human Machine Interface) device 22.

[0012] A user of the facility introduction plan support system 10 is, for example, an employee of a business operator that operates a number of business vehicles and conducts various businesses, such as a taxi company or a transportation company, who is in charge of formulating an introduction plan for facilities including each vehicle and the devices necessary for the operation of these vehicles. The user can operate the facility introduction plan support system 10 directly or remotely to perform these tasks.

[0013] The facility introduction plan support system 10 automatically creates multiple facility plan proposals, which are plans for newly introducing facilities including electric vehicles. For each of the created facility plan proposals, multiple operation plan proposals for each vehicle in the facility plan proposal are automatically created, and multiple predetermined indices are calculated for each of the created operation plan proposals. Then, based on the calculated index values, one or more operation plan proposals are extracted as an optimal operation plan group, and the calculation results of the index values ​​of each operation plan proposal included in the optimal operation plan group are presented to the user for each facility plan proposal, thereby encouraging the user to adopt one of the facility plan proposals. In this way, the system supports the user in formulating an introduction plan for facilities including electric vehicles.

[0014] Specifically, the equipment introduction plan support system 10 includes an equipment plan proposal creation processing unit 101, an operation plan proposal creation processing unit 102, an index calculation processing unit 103, an optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104, an index display processing unit 105, an equipment plan proposal DB 106, an operation plan proposal DB 107, an operation plan proposal index DB 108, and an optimal operation plan group DB 109. The equipment introduction plan support system 10 performs the above-mentioned processing using each of these components. The details of each component included in the equipment introduction plan support system 10 will be described later.

[0015] The facility introduction planning support system 10 is configured by appropriately combining, for example, a processing unit such as a CPU, a non-volatile storage medium such as a HDD or SSD, etc. The facility introduction planning support system 10 may be realized by using, for example, a physical server, or a virtual server configured on the cloud may be used as the facility introduction planning support system 10.

[0016] A user can operate the equipment introduction plan support system 10 by performing plan input 11 to the equipment introduction plan support system 10. The plan input 11 is information required for creating an equipment plan, such as the number of new vehicles to be introduced. The contents of the plan input 11 are input to an equipment plan creation processing unit 101 and are used in the equipment plan creation process executed by the equipment plan creation processing unit 101, which will be described later.

[0017] The facility information DB12 is a database that records information on various facilities related to the operation of each vehicle, including existing vehicles. The facility information DB12 includes information on, for example, charging facilities that can be used by electric vehicles and garages where each vehicle is stored after the end of business hours.

[0018] The vehicle information DB 13 is a database that records information related to the characteristics of each vehicle, including existing vehicles. The vehicle information DB 13 includes information such as the number of vehicles and the type of each vehicle (whether it is an electric vehicle or not). In the case of an electric vehicle, the vehicle information DB 13 also includes information on charging conditions, such as whether quick charging is possible and battery capacity.

[0019] The business information DB 14 is a database that records information related to the business performed by a business operator using multiple vehicles. The business information DB 14 includes information such as route points that each vehicle should visit during business and business constraints (for example, delivery items and delivery times in delivery business).

[0020] The CO2 emission information DB15 is a database in which information regarding the CO2 emissions of each vehicle is recorded. The CO2 simulator 16 obtains the amount of CO2 emissions of each vehicle while it is traveling by simulating the amount of CO2 emissions based on the information recorded in the CO2 emission information DB15. In the case of an electric vehicle such as an EV (electric vehicle), since no CO2 is emitted while it is traveling, the amount of CO2 emissions may be calculated as 0. Alternatively, the amount of CO2 emissions of each electric vehicle may be calculated taking into account the CO2 emitted during power generation.

[0021] The electric power consumption / fuel consumption information DB 17 is a database in which information on the electric power consumption (for electric vehicles) or fuel consumption (for internal combustion engine vehicles) of each vehicle is recorded. The electric power consumption / fuel consumption simulator 18 obtains the electric power consumption or fuel consumption of each vehicle during driving by simulating the information recorded in the electric power consumption / fuel consumption information DB 17.

[0022] The battery information DB 19 is a database in which information about the batteries possessed by each electric vehicle is recorded. The battery simulator 20 obtains the battery deterioration state of each electric vehicle by simulating it based on the information recorded in the battery information DB 19.

[0023] The HMI device 22 displays the calculation results of index values ​​of each operation plan proposal for each equipment plan proposal calculated by the equipment introduction planning support system 10, and presents them to the user. The HMI device 22 also accepts operation inputs from the user on the displayed contents, and outputs the operation contents to the equipment introduction planning support system 10. The HMI device 22 can be configured using, for example, a display, a mouse, a keyboard, and the like. Alternatively, a computer connected to the equipment introduction planning support system 10 via a LAN or WAN may be used as the HMI device 22.

[0024] Next, the details of the processing executed by each processing unit of the equipment introduction planning support system 10 (the equipment plan proposal creation processing unit 101, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 102, the index calculation processing unit 103, the optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104, and the index display processing unit 105) will be described below.

[0025] 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process executed in an equipment introduction planning support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The equipment introduction planning support system 10 executes the process shown in the flowchart in FIG. 2 in response to a request from a user, for example.

[0026] In step S10, an equipment plan creation process is performed by the equipment plan creation processing unit 101. Specifically, in step S10, the equipment plan creation processing unit 101 acquires a plan input 11 from a user, and creates a plurality of equipment plans based on this plan input 11. Then, information on each of the created equipment plans is recorded in the equipment plan DB 106.

[0027] 3 is a diagram showing an example of information on a capital plan created in step S10 and recorded in the capital plan DB 106 in the first embodiment of the present invention. The capital plan creation processing unit 101 creates one or more pieces of capital plan information 1060 each having different contents, as shown in FIG. 3, and records them in the capital plan DB 106. In this embodiment, each piece of capital plan information 1060 is made up of a plurality of records corresponding to various pieces of equipment in each capital plan, and each record has fields for equipment category 1061, number of units 1062, and type 1063. Also, each piece of capital plan information 1060 has a field for CAPEX 1064 set.

[0028] The equipment category 1061 stores information indicating the category of each piece of equipment, for example, whether it is a vehicle or a charger. The number of units 1062 stores information indicating the number of each piece of equipment. The total value of the numbers of units 1062 of the records in which the equipment category 1061 is a vehicle matches the number of vehicles to be introduced specified in the plan input 11. The type 1063 stores information indicating the type of each piece of equipment. For example, in the case of a vehicle, information indicating whether it is an EV (electric vehicle) or an ICE (internal combustion engine vehicle) is stored in the type 1063, and in the case of a charger, information indicating the output power is stored. The CAPEX 1064 stores information indicating CAPEX (Capital Expenditure), which is the cost required to introduce all the equipment included in the equipment plan.

[0029] In step S10, the equipment plan creation processing unit 101 of this embodiment creates multiple equipment plan proposals by, for example, changing the ratio of the number of EVs and ICEs according to the number of vehicles to be introduced specified in the plan input 11, and determining the number of chargers according to the number of EVs. At this time, transportation demand information regarding transportation demand may be acquired as the plan input 11, and the number of vehicles to be introduced may be determined based on this transportation demand information. In addition, for each of the created equipment plan proposals, CAPEX is calculated from the type and number of facilities owned by each of them. Then, equipment plan proposal information 1060 is created according to these contents. As a result, multiple equipment plan proposals each having the same data format as the equipment plan proposal information 1060 shown in FIG. 3 and each having different contents can be created.

[0030] 3 is an example of equipment plan proposal information recorded in the equipment plan proposal DB 106, and the contents and data format are not limited to this. If an introduction plan for various equipment such as vehicles and chargers can be appropriately specified for each equipment plan proposal, the equipment plan proposal creation processing unit 101 can create multiple equipment plan proposals with any contents and data format and record them in the equipment plan proposal DB 106.

[0031] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, in step S20, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 102 performs an operation plan proposal creation process. Specifically, in step S20, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 102 acquires information recorded in the facility information DB 12, the vehicle information DB 13, and the business information DB 14, and creates a plurality of operation plan proposals that specify the allocation of operation routes of each vehicle in each of the facility plans recorded in the facility plan proposal DB 106 based on this information. Then, information on each operation plan proposal for each of the created facility plans is recorded in the operation plan proposal DB 107.

[0032] 4 is a diagram showing an example of information on an operation plan plan created in step S20 and recorded in the operation plan plan DB 107. The operation plan plan creation processing unit 102 creates operation plan plan information 1070 for each equipment plan indicated by the equipment plan plan information 1060 recorded in the equipment plan plan DB 106, and records it in the operation plan plan DB 107. Each operation plan plan information 1070 is composed of a plurality of records corresponding to each operation route set for each vehicle, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, and each record has fields of a vehicle ID 1071, a vehicle type 1072, a state 1073, a departure point 1074, an arrival point 1075, a start time 1076, and an end time 1077.

[0033] The vehicle ID 1071 stores information indicating an ID number for uniquely identifying each vehicle in the facility plan. The vehicle type 1072 stores information indicating the type of each vehicle, for example, whether it is an EV (electric vehicle) or an ICE (internal combustion engine vehicle). The status 1073 stores information indicating the status of the vehicle on each operation route, for example, the running status and the business status. The departure point 1074 and the arrival point 1075 store information indicating the departure point (starting point) and the arrival point (ending point) of each operation route, respectively. The start time 1076 and the end time 1077 store the scheduled times at which the vehicle starts and ends its operation or stop on each operation route, respectively.

[0034] In step S20, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 102, for example, for each of the equipment plan proposal information 1060, changes the operation routes assigned to each vehicle in various ways so as to cover the business contents defined in the business information DB 14, and satisfy the charging conditions of each electric vehicle defined in the vehicle information DB 13, within the range of the facility conditions defined in the facility information DB 12. As a result, a plurality of operation plans each having the same data format as the operation plan proposal information 1070 shown in Fig. 4 and different contents can be created for each equipment plan proposal.

[0035] 4 is an example of information about an operation plan recorded in the operation plan DB 107, and the contents and data format are not limited to this. If the allocation of operation routes to each vehicle can be appropriately specified, the operation plan creation processing unit 102 can create multiple operation plans for each facility plan with any contents and data format and record them in the operation plan DB 107.

[0036] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2, in step S30, the index calculation processing unit 103 performs an index calculation process. Specifically, in step S30, the index calculation processing unit 103 acquires the simulation results of the CO2 simulator 16, the power cost / fuel consumption simulator 18, and the battery simulator 20, and calculates index values ​​for each operation plan proposal created for each facility plan proposal in step S20 for a plurality of predetermined indexes using these simulation results. These index values ​​include, for example, CO2 emissions, OPEX (Operating Expense), etc. Then, information on each calculated index value for each facility plan proposal and each operation plan proposal is recorded in the operation plan proposal index DB 108.

[0037] 5 is a diagram showing an example of information on index values ​​for each equipment plan and each operation plan calculated in step S30 and recorded in the operation plan index DB 108 in the first embodiment of the present invention. The index calculation processing unit 103 creates index value information 1080 for each equipment plan indicated by the operation plan information 1070 recorded in the operation plan DB 107, and records it in the operation plan index DB 108. Each index value information 1080 is composed of a plurality of records corresponding to each operation plan set for each equipment plan, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, and each record has fields for an operation plan 1081, a CO2 emission amount 1082, and an OPEX 1083.

[0038] The operation plan 1081 stores information for uniquely identifying each operation plan of the facility plan. The CO2 emissions 1082 stores information indicating the total value of the CO2 emissions for each vehicle in each operation plan. The OPEX 1083 stores information indicating the total value of the OPEX for each vehicle in each operation plan. The OPEX for each vehicle includes, for example, the electricity charges required for charging in the case of an electric vehicle, and the fuel costs in the case of an internal combustion engine vehicle.

[0039] In step S30, the index calculation processing unit 103 calculates the travel time and travel distance of each vehicle for each operation route from the information of the operation route of each vehicle for each facility plan indicated in the operation plan information 1070 recorded in the operation plan DB 107. Then, using these calculation results, simulations are performed by the CO2 simulator 16, the power consumption / fuel consumption simulator 18, and the battery simulator 20 to calculate the CO2 emission, OPEX, and battery deterioration level of each vehicle in each operation plan. The CO2 emission and OPEX of each vehicle in each operation plan thus calculated are summed up for all vehicles for each facility plan and each operation plan, so that index value information 1080 as shown in FIG. 5 can be created.

[0040] The index value information 1080 shown in FIG. 5 is an example of information on index values ​​for each facility plan and each operation plan recorded in the operation plan index DB 108, and the contents and data format are not limited to this. For example, index values ​​other than CO2 emissions and OPEX may be included, or any index value may be excluded. Any index can be adopted as long as the user can determine the evaluation of each operation plan when multiple vehicles run according to the operation routes in each facility plan. Furthermore, as long as the index value of each preset index can be appropriately expressed, the index calculation processing unit 103 can record the information on the index value calculated for each facility plan and each operation plan in the operation plan index DB 108 with any content and data format.

[0041] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, in step S40, the optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104 performs an optimal operation plan group extraction process. Specifically, in step S40, for each of the equipment plans, the optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104 extracts one or more operation plan plans from among the multiple operation plans as an optimal operation plan group based on the index value for each operation plan calculated in step S30. Then, the optimal operation plan group and information on the index value for each extracted equipment plan are recorded in the optimal operation plan group DB109.

[0042] In the optimal operation plan group extraction process in step S40, for example, among the operation plan plans of the equipment plan, a group of an operation plan plan having the most advantageous index value compared to the other operation plan plans and an operation plan plan having the second most advantageous index value of each of the two index values ​​can be extracted as an optimal operation plan group. That is, in the example of the index value information 1080 shown in Fig. 5, for example, in the equipment plan A, among the first to fifth operation plan plans, the third operation plan plan having the lowest CO2 emission, the second operation plan plan having the lowest OPEX, and the first operation plan plan having the second lowest CO2 emission and the second lowest OPEX are extracted as an optimal operation plan group. In addition, in the equipment plan B, among the first to fifth operation plan plans, the third operation plan plan having the lowest CO2 emission and the first operation plan plan having the lowest OPEX are extracted as an optimal operation plan group. As a result, for each of the equipment plan plans A and B, the operation plans shown in Fig. 6 are extracted as an optimal operation plan group, and information on the index values ​​of each operation plan plan of the extracted optimal operation plan group is recorded as optimal operation plan group information 1090 for each equipment plan plan in the optimal operation plan group DB 109. Note that for equipment plan plan B, there is no operation plan plan with the second smallest CO2 emissions and OPEX, so an optimal operation plan group based on this condition is not extracted.

[0043] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, in step S50, the index display processing unit 105 performs index display processing. Specifically, in step S50, the index display processing unit 105 acquires information on the optimal operation plans and index values ​​for each equipment plan proposal extracted in step S40 from the optimal operation plan group DB 109, and based on that information, displays the index values ​​of each operation plan proposal included in the optimal operation plan group for each equipment plan proposal on the HMI device 22 and presents them to the user. This enables the user to compare and consider the equipment plan proposals from multiple perspectives according to the indexes when formulating an equipment introduction plan.

[0044] 7 is a diagram showing an example of an index value display screen displayed on the HMI device 22 in step S50 in the first embodiment of the present invention. The index value display screen 221 shown in Fig. 7 has an optimal operation plan group display section 2210, an equipment plan detail display section 2211, a selected equipment plan display section 2212, and a selection redo button 2213.

[0045] The optimal operation plan group display unit 2210 displays a plurality of lines connecting the index values ​​of each operation plan plan of the optimal operation plan group for each equipment plan plan on a two-dimensional graph with axes of two indexes (CO2 emission amount, OPEX) whose index values ​​are respectively calculated by the index calculation processing unit 103. In the example of Fig. 7, with OPEX on the horizontal axis and CO2 emission on the vertical axis, lines 2210a to 2210e showing combinations of index values ​​of each operation plan plan of the optimal operation plan group for each equipment plan plan A to E are displayed on the optimal operation plan group display unit 2210. Note that although plot points showing the index values ​​of each operation plan plan are not displayed in Fig. 7, plot points may be displayed.

[0046] A table showing details of each equipment plan is displayed in the equipment plan detail display section 2211. This table is made up of a plurality of records corresponding to each equipment plan, and each record has fields for equipment plan 22111, number of EVs 22112, number of ICEs 22113, number of chargers 22114, contracted amount of electricity 22115, and CAPEX 22116.

[0047] The equipment plan 22111 stores information for uniquely identifying each equipment plan. The number of EVs 22112, the number of ICEs 22113, and the number of chargers 22114 store the numbers of EVs, ICEs, and chargers included in each equipment plan. The contracted amount of electricity 22115 stores information on the contracted amount of electricity required to cover the charging power of the chargers in each equipment plan. The CAPEX 22116 stores information on the CAPEX required to introduce each equipment plan.

[0048] The selected equipment plan display unit 2212 displays information indicating an equipment plan corresponding to the line currently selected by the user in the optimal operation plan group display unit 2210. When the user selects any one of the lines 2210a to 2210e in the optimal operation plan group display unit 2210 by operating the HMI device 22, the selected line is highlighted, and information indicating the equipment plan corresponding to the line is displayed in the selected equipment plan display unit 2212. In the example of Fig. 7, the line 2210a is selected and highlighted in the optimal operation plan group display unit 2210, and the selected equipment plan display unit 2212 displays that the equipment plan A corresponding to this line 2210a is currently selected.

[0049] 7, a part of the line 2210a corresponding to the selected equipment plan A is displayed as a dashed line instead of a solid line in the optimal operation plan group display section 2210. This dashed line portion indicates that the equipment plan E, which has a superior (lower) CAPEX than the equipment plan A and includes an operation plan in the optimal operation plan group whose index value is superior (lower OPEX) than the optimal operation plan group extracted from the equipment plan A, is present in the area of ​​the part. This makes it possible to display the index value shown in the optimal operation plan group display section 2210 in different forms depending on whether or not there is another equipment plan that meets the above conditions for the equipment plan selected by the user.

[0050] The selection redo button 2213 is an operation part for redoing the selection of a facility plan. After the user selects an arbitrary line in the optimal operation plans display section 2210 by operating the HMI device 22, when the user moves the cursor 22a onto the selection redo button 2213 and performs a predetermined operation (e.g., clicking the mouse) as shown in Fig. 7, a facility plan corresponding to the line is newly selected, and the contents of the index value display screen 221 are updated.

[0051] After executing the process of step S50, the facility introduction plan support system 10 ends the process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

[0052] According to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the following advantageous effects are achieved.

[0053] (1) The facility introduction plan support system 10 is a system that supports a user who formulates an introduction plan for a facility that includes at least an electric vehicle. The facility introduction plan support system 10 includes a facility plan creation processing unit 101 that creates one or more facility plan proposals that represent an introduction plan for a facility, a planned operation plan creation processing unit 102 that creates one or more planned operation plans that specify the allocation of operation routes to each of a plurality of vehicles including an electric vehicle for each of the facility plan proposals, an index calculation processing unit 103 that calculates index values ​​for each planned operation plan for a plurality of predetermined indexes when a plurality of vehicles run along the respective operation routes, an optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104 that extracts one or more planned operation plans from the planned operation plans as an optimal operation plan group based on the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation processing unit 103 for each of the facility plan proposals, and an index display processing unit 105 that presents the index values ​​of each planned operation plan included in the optimal operation plan group to the user for each facility plan proposal. As a result of this, it is possible to realize user support that allows an introduction plan for a facility including an electric vehicle to be appropriately formulated.

[0054] (2) The equipment for which the user develops an introduction plan includes a plurality of vehicles including electric vehicles and chargers for charging the electric vehicles. In this manner, the user can be assisted when developing an introduction plan for equipment including electric vehicles and chargers.

[0055] (3) The equipment plan creation processing unit 101 may acquire transportation demand information related to transportation demand and create an equipment plan based on the transportation demand information. In this way, even if the user does not specify the number of vehicles to be introduced, an appropriate equipment plan can be formulated according to the transportation demand.

[0056] (4) The equipment plan creation processing unit 101 calculates the CAPEX required for introducing equipment for each equipment plan. As shown in the index value display screen 221 of FIG. 7, for an equipment plan selected by a user from among a plurality of equipment plans, the index display processing unit 105 displays the index value in a different form depending on whether or not there is another equipment plan whose CAPEX is superior to that of the equipment plan and whose optimal operation plan group includes an operation plan whose index value (CO2 emission amount, OPEX) is superior to that of the optimal operation plan group extracted from the equipment plan. In this way, the user can formulate an introduction plan for equipment including an electric vehicle after comparing and examining various equipment plans created by the equipment plan creation processing unit 101 based on their respective index values ​​and CAPEX. As a result, the user can make an accurate decision when formulating an introduction plan for equipment.

[0057] (5) The index display processing unit 105 further presents the CAPEX to the user for each equipment plan in the equipment plan details display area 2211 of the index value display screen 221. This allows the user to make more accurate decisions when formulating equipment introduction plans, taking CAPEX into account.

[0058] Second embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-mentioned first embodiment, an example was described in which the equipment plan creation processing unit 101 creates multiple equipment plans with different ratios of the number of EVs and ICEs. In contrast, in the following second embodiment, an example will be described in which, when introducing equipment over multiple years, multiple equipment plans are created with different breakdowns of equipment to be introduced each year.

[0059] The system configuration and processing procedure of this embodiment are similar to those described in the first embodiment with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Therefore, this embodiment will be described below using the contents described in the first embodiment.

[0060] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of information on the equipment plan recorded in the equipment plan DB 106 in step S10 in FIG. 2 in the second embodiment of the present invention. The equipment plan creation processing unit 101 creates one or more pieces of equipment plan information 1060 each having different contents, as in the first embodiment, and records them in the equipment plan DB 106. Each record of the equipment plan information 1060 has fields for equipment category 1061, number of units 1062, and type 1063, as shown in FIG. 8, for example. Also, it has a field for CAPEX 1064 set for each piece of equipment plan information 1060. Of these, the equipment category 1061 and type 1063 are the same as those in FIG. 3 described in the first embodiment.

[0061] In this embodiment, the number of units 1062 stores information indicating the number of each piece of equipment to be introduced each year. The cumulative value of the number of units 1062 for each piece of equipment from the first year to the final year (the fifth year in the example of FIG. 8) is the same for all capital investment plans. The CAPEX 1064 stores information indicating the CAPEX value for each year in the capital investment plan.

[0062] In step S10, the equipment plan creation processing unit 101 of this embodiment creates multiple equipment plan proposals by, for example, changing the number of vehicles to be introduced for each facility for each year according to the final number of vehicles to be introduced and the number of years for which each facility was introduced, specified in the plan input 11. At this time, transportation demand information regarding the predicted value of transportation demand for each year may be acquired as the plan input 11, and the number of vehicles to be introduced for each year may be determined based on this transportation demand information. In addition, for each of the created equipment plan proposals, CAPEX is calculated for each year from the type and number of facilities that each facility has for each year. Then, equipment plan proposal information 1060 is created according to these contents. As a result, multiple equipment plan proposals each having the same data format as the equipment plan proposal information 1060 shown in FIG. 8 and each having different contents can be created.

[0063] In step S20 and after, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 102, the index calculation processing unit 103, and the optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104 execute their respective processes according to the number of vehicles for each year in each equipment plan proposal created in step S10, to create information representing an optimal operation plan group and an index value for each year in each equipment plan proposal, and record the information in the optimal operation plan group DB 109 as optimal operation plan group information 1090. Then, the index display processing unit 105 executes an index display process to display the index values ​​of each operation plan proposal included in the optimal operation plan group for each equipment plan proposal and for each year on the HMI device 22, and present the same to the user. This allows the user to compare the equipment plan proposals from multiple perspectives according to the indexes for each year when formulating an equipment introduction plan.

[0064] According to the second embodiment of the present invention described above, the equipment plan creation processing unit 101 creates one or more equipment plan proposals spanning multiple years. As a result, when a user formulates an equipment introduction plan, the user can make a decision taking into account annual indexes.

[0065] (Third embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-mentioned first embodiment, an example was described in which the index calculation processing unit 103 calculates the index values ​​of CO2 emissions and OPEX for each facility plan and each operation plan, using these as indexes. In contrast, in the following third embodiment, an example will be described in which further another index value is calculated.

[0066] As in the second embodiment, the system configuration and processing procedure of this embodiment are similar to those described in the first embodiment with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Therefore, the following description of this embodiment will be given using the contents described in the first embodiment.

[0067] 9 is a diagram showing an example of information on index values ​​for each facility plan and each operation plan recorded in the operation plan index DB 108 in step S30 in FIG. 2 in the third embodiment of the present invention. As in the first embodiment, the index calculation processing unit 103 creates index value information 1080 for each facility plan indicated by the operation plan information 1070 recorded in the operation plan DB 107, and records it in the operation plan index DB 108. Each record of the index value information 1080 has fields for CO2 offset 1084 and OPEX+CO2 offset 1085 in addition to the operation plan 1081, CO2 emission amount 1082, and OPEX 1083 described in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, for example.

[0068] The CO2 offset 1084 stores the value of the CO2 offset, which is a cost according to the CO2 emissions shown in the CO2 emissions 1082, that is, information indicating the cost of purchasing credits required to offset the CO2 emissions. The OPEX+CO2 offset 1085 stores the total value of the OPEX 1083 and the CO2 offset 1084.

[0069] In step S30, the index calculation processing unit 103 of this embodiment calculates the CO2 emissions and OPEX of each vehicle in each operation plan proposal, for example, for each facility plan proposal indicated in the operation plan proposal information 1070 recorded in the operation plan proposal DB 107, in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In addition, the CO2 emissions and OPEX of each vehicle in each operation plan proposal thus calculated are summed up for all vehicles for each facility plan proposal and each operation plan proposal. Then, the total value of the CO2 emissions is multiplied by a predetermined unit price to calculate a CO2 offset, and the sum of this and the OPEX is calculated. In this way, index value information 1080 as shown in FIG. 9 can be created.

[0070] After step S40, the optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104 executes an optimal operation plan group extraction process based on the index value for each equipment plan plan and each operation plan plan calculated in step S30. At this time, a predetermined number of operation plan plans are extracted as an optimal operation plan group for each equipment plan plan, for example, in ascending order of the value of the OPEX+CO2 offset 1085, and are recorded in the optimal operation plan group DB 109 as optimal operation plan group information 1090. Then, the index display processing unit 105 executes an index display process, so that the index values ​​of each operation plan plan included in the optimal operation plan group are displayed on the HMI device 22 for each equipment plan plan in a display form similar to that of the index value display screen 221 in FIG. 7, for example, and presented to the user. At this time, the user may select which index value is to be displayed. This allows the user to compare and consider the equipment plan plans when formulating an equipment introduction plan.

[0071] According to the third embodiment of the present invention described above, the multiple indexes calculated by the index calculation processing unit 103 further include a CO2 offset, which is a cost according to the amount of CO2 emissions. In addition, the optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104 extracts an optimal operation plan group based on the total value of the OPEX and the CO2 offset. In this way, it is possible to extract an optimal operation plan group by taking into account the CO2 offset in addition to the OPEX.

[0072] (Fourth embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the processing of the capital plan creation processing unit 101 described in the second embodiment and the processing of the index calculation processing unit 103 described in the third embodiment are combined to present the annual cumulative cost value of each capital plan to a user.

[0073] As with the second and third embodiments described above, the system configuration and processing procedure of this embodiment are similar to those described in the first embodiment with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Therefore, the following description of this embodiment will be given using the contents described in the first embodiment.

[0074] In this embodiment, in step S10 of Fig. 2, the equipment plan creation processing unit 101 creates equipment plan information 1060 as shown in Fig. 8 for each equipment plan and records it in the equipment plan DB 106. Also, in step S30 of Fig. 2, the index calculation processing unit 103 creates index value information 1080 as shown in Fig. 9 for each equipment plan and for each year and records it in the operation plan index DB 108. Then, in step S40 of Fig. 2, the optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit 104 extracts optimal operation plans for each equipment plan and for each year based on the index value information 1080 and records it in the optimal operation plan group DB 109 as optimal operation plan group information 1090. In step S50 of FIG. 2, the indicator display processing unit 105 displays the cumulative cost values ​​(cumulative values ​​of CAPEX, OPEX and CO2 offset) of each operation plan included in the optimal operation plan group of each equipment plan by year on the HMI device 22 based on the optimal operation plan group information 1090 recorded in the optimal operation plan group DB 109, and presents them to the user.

[0075] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an index value display screen displayed on the HMI device 22 in step S50 of Fig. 2 in the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The index value display screen 221 shown in Fig. 10 has a cost cumulative value display section 2214, an installed equipment transition display section 2215, a selected equipment plan display section 2212, and a selection redo button 2213. The selected equipment plan display section 2212 and the selection redo button 2213 are similar to those in Fig. 7 described in the first embodiment.

[0076] The cost cumulative value display section 2214 displays, for each proposed capital plan, the cost cumulative value, which is the annual cumulative value of the index values ​​CAPEX, OPEX, and CO2 offset calculated by the index calculation processing section 103. For example, when OPEX and CO2 offset are calculated as daily values, these values ​​are multiplied by the number of operating days in a year, the sum is added to CAPEX, and the sum is further added to the cumulative cost value of the previous year, thereby calculating the cumulative cost value for each year. In the example of FIG. 10, for each of the proposed capital plans A to C, the cumulative cost value for each year is displayed in the cost cumulative value display section 2214 along with lines 2214a to 2214c showing the transition.

[0077] The installed equipment transition display section 2215 displays a table showing the number of units to be installed each year in each equipment plan for each equipment category and type, as information showing the yearly transition of each equipment plan.

[0078] 10, a part of the line 2214a corresponding to the selected equipment plan A is displayed in a different form (thick line) from the other parts in the cost accumulation value display section 2214. This part indicates a period in which the cost accumulation value is superior (lower) compared to the other equipment plan.

[0079] According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention described above, the multiple indices calculated by the index calculation processing unit 103 include at least OPEX and a CO2 offset, which is a cost according to the amount of CO2 emissions. The equipment plan creation processing unit 101 calculates the CAPEX required for the introduction of equipment for each equipment plan for each fiscal year, and the index display processing unit 105 displays, for each equipment plan, the total value of CAPEX, OPEX, and CO2 offset accumulated for each fiscal year, as shown in the index value display screen 221 of FIG. 10. In this way, when a user formulates an equipment introduction plan, the user can make an appropriate decision taking into account the cost for each year.

[0080] It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those having all of the described configurations. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of the above-described embodiment with other configurations.

[0081] In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functional units, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as the program, table, file, etc. that realizes each function can be stored in a memory, a hard disk, a recording device such as an SSD, an IC card, an SD card, a DVD, or other recording media.

[0082] In addition, in each of the above figures, the control lines and information lines are shown as those considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the actual implementation. For example, it may be considered that almost all the components are actually connected to each other.

[0083] The above-described layouts of the various functional units, processing units, and databases are merely examples, and may be changed to optimal layouts in terms of the performance, processing efficiency, and communication efficiency of the hardware and software included in these devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0084] 10: Equipment introduction planning support system, 11: Plan input, 12: Equipment information DB, 13: Vehicle information DB, 14: Business information DB, 15: CO2 emission information DB, 16: CO2 simulator, 17: Electricity cost / fuel consumption information DB, 18: Electricity cost / fuel consumption simulator, 19: Battery information DB, 20: Battery simulator, 22: HMI device, 101: Equipment plan creation processing unit, 102: Operation plan creation processing unit, 103: Index calculation processing unit, 104: Optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit, 105: Index display processing unit, 106: Equipment plan DB, 107: Operation plan DB, 108: Operation plan index DB, 109: Optimal operation plan group DB

Claims

1. A system for assisting a user in formulating an introduction plan for equipment including at least an electric vehicle, an equipment plan creation processing unit that creates one or more equipment plan proposals that represent an introduction plan for the equipment; an operation plan creation processing unit that creates, for each of the facility plans, one or more operation plan plans that specify an allocation of operation routes to each of a plurality of vehicles including the electric vehicle; an index calculation processing unit that calculates index values ​​for each of the proposed operation plans when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route with respect to a plurality of predetermined indexes; an optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit that extracts, for each of the facility plans, one or more operation plan plans among the operation plans as an optimal operation plan group based on the index value calculated by the index calculation processing unit; an index display processing unit that presents the index value of each operation plan proposed included in the optimal operation plan group to the user for each equipment plan proposed.

2. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 1, The facility introduction planning support system includes the plurality of vehicles including the electric vehicle, and a charger that charges the electric vehicles.

3. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 1, The equipment plan creation processing unit is an equipment introduction planning support system that acquires transportation demand information regarding transportation demand and creates the equipment plan based on the transportation demand information.

4. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 1, The equipment plan creation processing unit calculates a CAPEX required for introducing the equipment for each of the equipment plans, The index display processing unit displays the index value in a different form for an equipment plan selected by the user from among the multiple equipment plan proposals, depending on whether or not there is another equipment plan proposal whose optimal operation plan group includes an operation plan proposal in which CAPEX is superior to the equipment plan proposal and whose index value is superior to the optimal operation plan group extracted from the equipment plan proposal, and whether or not there is another equipment plan proposal.

5. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 1, The equipment introduction planning support system, wherein the multiple indicators include at least CO2 emissions and OPEX.

6. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 5, The plurality of indicators further includes a CO2 offset, which is a cost according to the CO2 emission amount; The optimal operation plan group extraction processing unit is an equipment introduction planning support system that extracts the optimal operation plan group based on a total value of the OPEX and the CO2 offset.

7. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 1, The equipment plan creation processing unit calculates a CAPEX required for introducing the equipment for each of the equipment plans, The index display processing unit further presents the CAPEX to the user for each facility plan.

8. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 1, The equipment plan creation processing unit is an equipment introduction planning support system that creates one or more equipment plans spanning multiple fiscal years.

9. The facility introduction planning support system according to claim 8, The multiple indicators include at least OPEX and a CO2 offset, which is a cost according to the amount of CO2 emissions; The equipment plan creation processing unit calculates, for each of the equipment plans, a CAPEX required for the introduction of the equipment for each of the fiscal years; The index display processing unit is an equipment introduction plan support system that displays, for each equipment plan proposal, a value obtained by accumulating the total value of the CAPEX, the OPEX, and the CO2 offset for each fiscal year.

10. A method for assisting a user in formulating an introduction plan for equipment including at least an electric vehicle, comprising: An equipment plan creation process for creating one or more equipment plans representing an introduction plan for the equipment; a process of creating one or more operation plan proposals for each of the facility plans, the operation plan proposals defining allocation of operation routes to each of a plurality of vehicles including the electric vehicle; an index calculation process for calculating, for each of the proposed operation plans, index values ​​for a plurality of predetermined indexes when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route; an optimal operation plan group extraction process for extracting one or more operation plan plans from the operation plan plans as an optimal operation plan group based on the index value calculated by the index calculation process for each of the facility plans; an index display process of presenting the index value of each operation plan proposed by the optimal operation plan group to the user for each equipment plan proposed by the computer.

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