Sustainable battery supplier selection of battery swapping station using an interval type-2 fuzzy method based on the cumulative prospect theory

Abstract

Facing worldwide climate change, governments are actively promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs). A battery swapping station (BSS) is a great asset, as it is one of the most important infrastructures for the promotion of EVs, which has become more and more popular recently due to its convenience and efficiency. Considering the batteries as the kernel component of EVs, the prices of which occupy almost half of the total operational cost of an EV, directly affecting battery electric vehicle (BEV) penetration. Therefore, this study develops a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework for sustainable battery supplier selection for BSS. First, the existing evaluation criterion system is expanded by incorporating a technical criterion comprising four sub-criteria to achieve a more comprehensive assessment of suppliers. Then, interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2FSs) are introduced to determine the criteria weights and rate the alternatives, and this representation method could better address uncertainty in describing membership and non-membership functions, ensuring a precise reflection of expert opinions. Subsequently, in the application of cumulative prospect theory, the positive and negative ideal solutions are simultaneously considered to calculate the prospect values, thereby more accurately reflecting decision-makers' risk preferences in the decision-making process. Finally, a case study is implemented to demonstrate the application of the proposed approach. Sensitivity analysis verifies the stability, and comparative analysis illustrates its superiority.