Problem:
Urban developers faced issues with parking planning and high resident transportation expenses, with traditional car ownership consuming about $500/month per household and valuable urban space.
Solution:
Goldratt Research Labs implemented urban simulation modeling to optimize a shared Tesla fleet management system. They analyzed resident usage patterns through agent-based modeling, fleet logistics via discrete-event simulation, and parking space reduction scenarios.
Results:
- 60% lower resident transportation costs ($200 vs. $500 per month).
- 58% fewer parking spaces required (105 vs. 250).
- Less than 5-minute average Tesla wait times.
- Scalable model for future sustainable developments.
Introduction: the future of modern residential development
3D plan of the Z Life Company project
Goldratt Research Labs specializes in enabling organizations and individuals to make better, faster decisions through simulation modeling. They focus on answering critical business questions, such as "What is the simplest, fastest way to achieve improvement?" or "How to get better results at the least cost?"
In this project, Goldratt Research Labs partnered with The Z Life Company, an innovative real estate development company based in Las Vegas. Z Life specializes in cutting-edge structural design and modern living solutions.
Using AnyLogic simulation, Goldratt analyzed how shared electric vehicles could transform urban living. One of their goals is to revolutionize sustainable real estate development by reducing urban housing costs by integrating shared Tesla fleet management and minimizing parking demands.
Problem: barriers to sustainable real estate development
Modern city dwellers face a paradox where they pay for premium cars that sit idle 95% of the time, while developers waste valuable space on parking infrastructure. In Las Vegas, where Z Life planned its flagship development, this translated to:
- High transportation costs for residents (car payments, insurance, parking).
- High construction costs due to mandatory parking requirements.
- Wasted urban space that could be used for green areas or amenities.
Z Life proposed an innovative sustainable real estate development approach: replacing private cars with a shared Tesla fleet management system. But without data, critical questions remained unanswered:
How many vehicles would ensure availability during rush hours?
Could reduced parking spaces meet demand?
Would the numbers work for both residents and developers?
Traditional planning methods couldn't account for the complex variables of real-world usage—they needed urban simulation to turn this vision into reality.
Read also: a case study on modeling a bicycle sharing system in AnyLogic.
Solution: Tesla fleet management model
When tackling Z Life's project, Goldratt faced a complex challenge that demanded more than spreadsheets or guesswork. They needed a way to model real human behavior interacting with physical infrastructure; this is where urban simulation and AnyLogic proved indispensable.
The breakthrough came through a carefully constructed AnyLogic model that recreated the real-world complexity using agent-based and discrete-event methods. At its core, the simulation captured the residents' unpredictable needs and the finite resources of the Tesla fleet system.
The project development had four steps.
Step 1: model setup
To begin with, the Goldratt developers recreated the initial components: Tesla fleets, the residential complex, and residents of different behaviors.
The project had two Tesla fleets:
- Free-to-use cars—reserved for use only by the residents inside the apartment building, and they have a capacity of free minutes to use.
- Pay-to-use cars—for residents who used up the free minutes or non-residents who want to use Teslas (the price for non-residents is higher than for residents).
The apartment complex has 250 apartments of 3 types.
| Type | Fraction | Free minutes per day |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 30% | 30 minutes |
| 1 bedroom | 50% | 45 minutes |
| 2 bedroom | 20% | 60 minutes |
4 general behavior patterns of the apartment residents.
| Type | Fraction | Active period |
|---|---|---|
| Night worker | 25% | 10 AM – 5 PM |
| Day worker | 50% | 5 PM – 1 AM |
| Entrepreneur | 20% | 7 AM – 1 AM |
| Out of state | 5% | 7 AM – 1 AM |
Step 2: simulate Tesla fleets and residents' behavior
The virtual residents made decisions just like real people, sometimes booking cars days in advance and other times making last-minute requests when plans changed.
On the infrastructure side, every Tesla became a dynamic entity in the model. The urban simulation model tracked vehicles through their complete usage cycle.
It highlighted obvious bottlenecks; for example, charging resulted in scheduling conflicts during evening peak hours.
Step 3: test "What-if" scenarios
What made this solution truly innovative for sustainable real estate development was its ability to test hundreds of scenarios.
Step 4: stand-alone app and ChatGPT integration
To make the model accessible for non-technical users, Goldratt added a ChatGPT-powered assistant that could explain the urban simulation results in plain language, suggest parameter adjustments (e.g., "Increase free Teslas by 5 to reduce waits"), and generate PDF reports with easy-to-read insights.
Explore our white paper on the integration of AI and simulation for business purposes.
Results: benefits from urban simulation
The urban simulation project provided actionable insights, leading to significant improvements:
Reduced transportation expenses for residents
- Traditional car ownership: ~$500/month (lease, insurance, parking).
- Shared Tesla model: ~$200/month (free usage + occasional paid rentals).
Optimized Tesla fleet size
- Initial estimate: 50 free Teslas for 250 apartments.
- Simulation findings: Only 35 free Teslas were needed (with 20 pay-to-use Teslas) to maintain <5 min wait times.
Parking space reduction
- Traditional requirement: 250 parking bays (1 per apartment).
- Shared model: 105 parking bays (58% reduction), lowering developer costs.
Scalability and future applications
- The model was designed for expansion to other sustainable real estate developments (San Francisco, Austin).
- The urban simulation model demonstrated the potential for boutique hotels and mixed-use properties.
Using AnyLogic software, Goldratt Research Labs and The Z Life Company designed an innovative, cost-efficient urban mobility solution. The model optimized Tesla fleet usage and proved that shared resources could significantly reduce living expenses for residents while increasing profitability from sustainable real estate development.
The case study was presented by Dr. Alan Barnard, CEO of Goldratt Research Labs, and Jaco-Ben Vosloo, VP Simulation of Goldratt Research Labs, at the AnyLogic Conference 2024.
The slides are available as a PDF.
