The Strength of Fuel Refueling Location Problem Formulations

Abstract: The Fuel Refueling Location Problem (FRLP) is a stylized model for determining the optimal siting of refueling stations for vehicles with limited travel ranges, such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles. This problem becomes particularly relevant when the goal is to facilitate long-distance travel using these vehicles. A variant of the FRLP, known as the Deviation Fuel Refueling Location Problem, accounts for the possibility that drivers may deviate from their preferred routes to ensure sufficient fuel or charging to complete their trips. While solution techniques based on various mathematical programming formulations have been thoroughly explored for these problems, there is a lack of theoretical insights into the relationships and strengths of these formulations. In this work, we study formulations of these problems used in the literature and compare their strengths in terms of linear programming relaxations. Furthermore, we explore approaches to tighten the formulations.