Urban public charging station locating method for electric vehicles based on land use approach

Abstract

Since the use of electric vehicles decreases the local pollution and noise emission electromobility gains a huge potential in sustainable transport. The currently insufficient charging network, namely the low number of stations and ill-chosen locations are a significant barrier of the widespread of electric vehicles in many countries. Accordingly, localization of new charging stations is of utmost importance. In this study, we develop a two-level charging station locating method. Weighted multicriteria methods were introduced to evaluate territory segments and allocate charging stations within a segment applying a hexagon-based approach and using a greedy algorithm. The novelty of the method in comparison with previous studies is that it assesses the potential of electric vehicle use on macro-level and the possible locations of charging stations on micro-level with a focus on the land-use. We apply the method to Hungary (macro evaluation) and to a district of the capital city, Budapest (micro evaluation). It is found that charging stations at P + R facilities, close to concentrated services and high-density areas are better suited to serve urban public charging demand than gas stations.