Purpose This paper aims to optimize the charging schedule for battery electric buses (BEBs) to minimize the charging cost considering the time-of-use electricity price. Design/methodology/approach The BEBs charging schedule optimization problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model. The objective is to minimize the total charging cost of the BEB fleet. The charge decision of each BEB at the end of each trip is to be determined. Two types of constraints are adopted to ensure that the charging schedule meets the operational requirements of the BEB fleet and that the number of charging piles can meet the demand of the charging schedule. Findings This paper conducts numerical cases to validate the effect of the proposed model based on the actual timetable and charging data of a bus line. The results show that the total charge cost with the optimized charging schedule is 15.56% lower than the actual total charge cost under given conditions. The results also suggest that increasing the number of charging piles can reduce the charging cost to some extent, which can provide a reference for planning the number of charging piles. Originality/value Considering time-of-use electricity price in the BEBs charging schedule will not only reduce the operation cost of electric transit but also make the best use of electricity resources.

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