Charging Station Placement Problem Research Articles

A Data-Driven Approach for Optimizing Early-Stage Electric Vehicle Charging Station Placement

This paper presents a novel and practical data-driven approach to sub-optimally allocate charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) in an early-stage setting. Specifically, we investigate the following problem: For a city with a limited budget for public EV charging infrastructure construction, where should the charging stations be deployed in order to promote the transition of EVs from traditional cars? We develop a <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\delta$</tex-math></inline-formula> -nearest model and a <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$</tex-math></inline-formula> -nearest model that can capture people's satisfaction towards a certain design and formulate the early-stage EV charging station placement problem as a monotone submodular maximization problem utilizing fine-grained population, trip, transportation network and POI data. A greedy-based algorithm is proposed to solve the problem efficiently with a provable approximation ratio. A case study of Haikou is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

The application challenge of electric vehicles

The growing demand for sustainable transportation has prompted an accelerated transition toward electric vehicles (EVs) as a promising solution to mitigate the environmental impact of conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This research analyzes the key challenges and technologies associated with EVs, aiming to produce insights into this rapidly evolving field. The challenges surrounding EVs encompass various aspects, including limited driving range, lack of access to electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS), charging times for EVs, and safety considerations. To overcome these challenges, several technological advancements have emerged. Battery technology has advanced to extend the driving range per charge of an electric vehicle. Various models and algorithms to study the EVs charging station placement problem (EVCSPP) have been proposed to find the optimal location to build the charging stations. The advancement of extreme fast charging (XFC) technology and the intelligent transport system (ITS) shorten the charging time to improve the practicality of EVs adoption. Furthermore, the EVs charging standard and risk management have been introduced to ensure a secure charging system. By addressing these challenges and leveraging innovative technologies, a comprehensive and sustainable charging network can be realized, facilitating the transition towards a cleaner and greener transportation system.

A Novel Levy-Enhanced Opposition-Based Gradient-Based Optimizer (LE-OB-GBO) for Charging Station Placement

Transportation modes are shifting toward electric vehicles from conventional internal combustion engines to reduce pollution and dependency on conventional fuels. This reduces the fuel cost, while charging stations must be distributed across the locations to minimize range anxiety. Installing charging stations randomly across the distribution system can lead to violation of active power loss, voltage deviation, and reliability parameters of the power system. The problem of the optimal location of charging stations is a nonlinear optimization problem that includes the parameters of the distribution system and road network with their respective constraints. This work proposes a new metaheuristic optimization algorithm, a levy-enhanced opposition-based gradient-based optimizer (LE-OB-GBO), to solve the charging station placement problem. It has a balance between exploration and exploitation and fast convergence rate. The performance of the proposed algorithm was evaluated by solving CEC 2017 benchmark functions and charging station problem. The performance of the proposed algorithm was also compared with that of other state-of-the-art optimization algorithms and was found to outperform 17 out of 29 CEC 2017 functions. Statistical analysis of the charging station placement problem indicates the lowest mean values of 1.4912, 1.4783, and 1.5217 for LE-OB-GBO for considered cases 1 to 3, respectively, thus proving the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.

A map matching-based method for electric vehicle charging station placement at directional road segment level

• A method of electric vehicle charging station placement at the road segment level. • A map matching-based method for locating electric vehicle charging stations. • A new charging demand estimation model incorporating trip purposes. • Traffic speed and arrival trips are key factors in placing charging stations. • Optimal charging station placement shows regional clustering characteristics. This paper proposes a method for electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) placement problem at the directional road segment (DRS) level for large urban road networks, which integrates a multi-criteria decision-making model with a new map matching technique called “segment-wise matching based on MRI”. The charging demand of DRS is estimated based on a novel prediction method which considers the arrival trips and the variation of charging demand for different trip purposes. Traffic attributes, charging demand attributes, and land price are incorporated into the TOPSIS model to determine the optimal EVCS placement. Finally, the proposed method is demonstrated using the road network of Xi'an in China as a case study. The results show the proposed method can be well applied to the EVCS placement problem at the DRS level for large-scale urban road networks. It is found that EVCS installation potentials of road segments approximately follow a normal distribution. The road segments with a high installation potential exhibit regional clustering characteristics due to the level of well-developed land use in the surrounding area. Sensitivity analyses suggest that it is important to include multiple criteria for modeling the EVCS placement problem and that traffic speed and arrival trips are key factors.

Charging Station Planning for Electric Vehicles

Charging station (CS) planning for electric vehicles (EVs) for a region has become an important concern for urban planners and the public alike to improve the adoption of EVs. Two major problems comprising this research area are: (i) the EV charging station placement (EVCSP) problem, and (ii) the CS need estimation problem for a region. In this work, different explainable solutions based on machine learning (ML) and simulation were investigated by incorporating quantitative and qualitative metrics. The solutions were compared with traditional approaches using a real CS area of Austin and a greenfield area of Bengaluru. For EVCSP, a different class of clustering solutions, i.e., mean-based, density-based, spectrum- or eigenvalues-based, and Gaussian distribution were evaluated. Different perspectives, such as the urban planner perspective, i.e., the clustering efficiency, and the EV owner perspective, i.e., an acceptable distance to the nearest CS, were considered. For the CS need estimation, ML solutions based on quadratic regression and simulations were evaluated. Using our CS planning methods urban planners can make better CS placement decisions and can estimate CS needs for the present and the future.

Multiobjective Planning Strategy for the Placement of Electric-Vehicle Charging Stations Using Hybrid Optimization Algorithm

Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station placement problem is a facility location problem. The EV charging station placement problem concerns about the total coverage in traffic network, the system losses and node voltage deviations in electric distribution system. To address the loss reduction and voltage profile improvement, the distribution systems are normally equipped with shunt capacitors for reactive power compensation. In this paper mathematical model comprising three objective functions, maximization of coverage and minimization of loss and node voltage deviations subjected to constraints is proposed for the simultaneous placement of EV charging stations and shunt capacitors. The control variables for optimization are the rating and location of charging stations and shunt capacitors. A hybrid optimization algorithm (PSO-DS) combining particle swarm optimization algorithm and direct search method is proposed for the solution of the mathematical model. The performance of PSO-DS is justified by comparing it with other state-of-the-art algorithms in solving the standard benchmark functions. Simulations are carried out on a 33-bus distribution system and a 25-node traffic network system to determine the different planning strategy for the placement of charging stations.

A multi-objective mathematical model for the electric vehicle charging station placement problem in urban areas

ABSTRACT As the popularity of electric vehicle (EV) technology continues to develop rapidly, so does the demand for charging stations, which are expected to be the main source of energy for electric vehicles in smart cities. An ideal charging network of stations would facilitate easy access to charging stations for drivers by ensuring that there is always a station nearby, and do that with the minimum number of stations to reduce infrastructure costs. Motivated by striking a balance between these two, we propose a novel multi-objective model for the EV charging station placement problem under a renewed constraint of a network that aims to make it easy for drivers to reach a station from anywhere in a city within a reasonable distance. We apply the model to Eskisehir in Turkey and then solved it with the weighted sum scalarisation method. We demonstrate and discuss the results which show practicality of the model.

Performance of Gradient-Based Optimizer on Charging Station Placement Problem

The electrification of transportation is necessary due to the expanded fuel cost and change in climate. The management of charging stations and their easy accessibility are the main concerns for receipting and accepting Electric Vehicles (EVs). The distribution network reliability, voltage stability and power loss are the main factors in designing the optimum placement and management strategy of a charging station. The planning of a charging stations is a complicated problem involving roads and power grids. The Gradient-based optimizer (GBO) used for solving the charger placement problem is tested in this work. A good balance between exploitation and exploration is achieved by the GBO. Furthermore, the likelihood of becoming stuck in premature convergence and local optima is rare in a GBO. Simulation results establish the efficacy and robustness of the GBO in solving the charger placement problem as compared to other metaheuristics such as a genetic algorithm, differential evaluation and practical swarm optimizer.

A Robust Two-Stage Planning Model for the Charging Station Placement Problem Considering Road Traffic Uncertainty

The current critical global concerns regarding fossil fuel exhaustion and environmental pollution have been driving advancements in transportation electrification and related battery technologies. In turn, the resultant growing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) calls for the development of a well-designed charging infrastructure. However, an inappropriate placement of charging stations might hamper smooth operation of the power grid and be inconvenient to EV drivers. Thus, the present work proposes a novel two-stage planning model for charging station placement. The candidate locations for the placement of charging stations are first determined by fuzzy inference considering distance, road traffic, and grid stability. The randomness in road traffic is modelled by applying a Bayesian network (BN). Then, the charging station placement problem is represented in a multi-objective framework with cost, voltage stability reliability power loss (VRP) index, accessibility index, and waiting time as objective functions. A hybrid algorithm combining chicken swarm optimization and the teaching-learning-based optimization (CSO TLBO) algorithm is used to obtain the Pareto front. Further, fuzzy decision making is used to compare the Pareto optimal solutions. The proposed planning model is validated on a superimposed IEEE 33-bus and 25-node test network and on a practical network in Tianjin, China. Simulation results validate the efficacy of the proposed model.

A novel chicken swarm and teaching learning based algorithm for electric vehicle charging station placement problem

The current concern about the ever-escalating demand for energy, exhaustive nature of fossil fuels, global warming accompanied by climate change has necessitated the development of an alternate pollution-free mode of commute. Electric Vehicles (EV) are an environmentally friendly alternative to reduce the reliance on fossil fuel and pollution. For public acceptance of EVs, functionality and accessibility of charging stations is of paramount importance. Improper planning of EV charging stations, however, is a threat to the power grid stability. EV charging stations must be placed in the transport network in such a way that the safe limit of distribution network parameters is not violated. Thus, charging station placement problem is an intricate problem involving convolution of transport and distribution networks. A novel and simple approach of formulating the charging station placement problem is presented in this work. This approach takes into account integrated cost of charging station placement as well as penalties for violating grid constraints. For obtaining an optimal solution of this placement problem, two efficient evolutionary algorithms, such as Chicken Swarm Optimization (CSO) and Teaching Learning Based Optimization algorithm (TLBO) are amalgamated together thereby extracting the best features of the both algorithms. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is tested by solving selected standard benchmark problems as well as charging station placement problem. The result of this hybrid algorithm is further compared with other algorithms used for this purpose.

A Game Approach for Charging Station Placement Based on User Preferences and Crowdedness

The placement of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs), which encourages the rapid development of electric vehicles (EVs), should be considered from not only operational perspective such as minimizing installation costs, but also user perspective so that their strategic and competitive charging behaviors can be reflected. This paper proposes a methodological framework to consider crowdedness and individual preferences of electric vehicle users (EVUs) in the selection of locations for fast-charging stations. The electric vehicle charging station placement problem (EVCSPP) is solved via a decentralized game theoretical decision-making algorithm and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -means clustering algorithm. The proposed algorithm, referred to as <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -GRAPE, determines the locations of charging stations to maximize the sum of utilities of EVUs. In particular, we analytically present that 50% of suboptimality of the solution can be at least guaranteed, which is about 17% better than the existing game theoretical based framework. We show a few variants to describe the utility functions that may capture the difference in preferences of EVUs. Finally, we demonstrate the viability of the decision framework via three real-world data-based experiments. The results of the experiments, including a comparison with a baseline method are then discussed.

Electric vehicle charging strategy study and the application on charging station placement

Optimal placement of charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) is critical for providing convenient charging service to EV owners and promoting public acceptance of EVs. There has been a lot of work on EV charging station placement, yet EV drivers’ charging strategy, which plays an important role in deciding charging stations’ performance, is missing. EV drivers make choice among charging stations according to various factors, including the distance, the charging fare and queuing condition in different stations etc. In turn, some factors, like queuing condition, is greatly influenced by EV drivers’ choices. As more EVs visit the same station, longer queuing duration should be expected. This work first proposes a behavior model to capture the decision making of EV drivers in choosing charging stations, based on which an optimal charging station placement model is presented to minimize the social cost (defined as the congestion in charging stations suffered by all EV drivers). Through analyzing EV drivers’ decision-making in the charging process, we propose a k-Level nested Quantal Response Equilibrium charging behavior model inspired by Quantal Response Equilibrium model and level-k thinking model. We then design a set of user studies to simulate charging scenarios and collect data from human players to learn the parameters of different behavior models. Experimental results show that our charging behavior model can better capture the bounded rationality of human players in the charging activity compared with state-of-the-art behavior models. Furthermore, to evaluate the proposed charging behavior model, we formulate the charging station placement problem with it and design an algorithm to solve the problem. It is shown that our approach obtains placement with a significantly better performance to different extent, especially when the budget is limited and relatively low.

A Hybrid Multi-Objective Chicken Swarm Optimization and Teaching Learning Based Algorithm for Charging Station Placement Problem

A new hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is developed and deployed in the present work for the optimal allocation of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations. The charging stations must be positioned on the road in such a way that they are easily accessible to the EV drivers and the electric power grid is not overloaded. The optimization framework aims at simultaneously reducing the cost, guaranteeing sufficient grid stability and feasible charging station accessibility. The grid stability is measured by a composite index consisting of Voltage stability, Reliability, and Power loss (VRP index). A Pareto dominance based hybrid Chicken Swarm Optimization and Teaching Learning Based Optimization (CSO TLBO) algorithm is utilized to obtain the Pareto optimal solution. It amalgamates swarm intelligence with teaching-learning process and inherits the strengths of CSO and TLBO. The two level algorithm has been validated on the multi-objective benchmark problems as well as EV charging station placement. The performance of the Pareto dominance based CSO TLBO is compared with that of other state-of-the-art algorithms. Furthermore, a fuzzy decision making is used to extract the best solution from the non dominated set of solutions. The combination of CSO and TLBO can yield promising results, which is found to be efficient in dealing with the practical charging station placement problem.

Free Floating Electric Car Sharing: A Data Driven Approach for System Design

In this paper, we study the design of a free floating car sharing system based on electric vehicles. We rely on data about millions of rentals of a free floating car sharing operator based on internal combustion engine cars that we recorded in four cities. We characterize the nature of rentals, highlighting the non-stationary, and highly dynamic nature of usage patterns. Building on this data, we develop a discrete-event trace-driven simulator to study the usage of a hypothetical electric car sharing system. We use it to study the charging station placement problem, modeling different return policies, car battery charge and discharge due to trips, and the stochastic behavior of customers for plugging a car to a pole. Our data-driven approach helps car sharing providers to gauge the impact of different design solutions. Our simulations show that it is preferred to place charging stations within popular parking areas where cars are parked for short time (e.g., downtown). By smartly placing charging stations in just 8% of city zones, no trip ends with a discharged battery, i.e., all trips are feasible. Customers shall collaborate by bringing the car to a charging station when the battery level goes below a minimum threshold. This may reroute the customer to a different destination zone than the desired one; however, this happens in less than 10% of all trips.

Nature-Inspired Optimization Algorithms Applied for Solving Charging Station Placement Problem: Overview and Comparison

The escalated energy demand in conjunction with the global warming and environmental degradation has paved the path of transportation electrification. Electric Vehicles (EVs) need to recharge their batteries after travelling certain distance. Thus, large scale deployment of EVs calls for development of sustainable charging infrastructure. The placement of charging stations is a complex optimization problem involving a number of decision variables, objective functions, and constraints. Placement of charging station mimics a non-convex and non- combinatorial problem involving both transport and distribution network. The complex and non-linear nature of the charging station placement problem has compelled researchers to apply Nature Inspired Optimization (NIO) algorithms for solving the problem. This study aims to review the NIO algorithms applied for solving the charging station placement problem. This work will endow the research community with a systematic review of NIO algorithms for solving charging station placement problem thereby revealing the key features, advantages, and disadvantages of each of these algorithms. Thus, this work will help the researchers in selecting suitable algorithm for solving the charging station placement problem and will serve as a guide for developing efficient algorithms to solve the charging station placement problem.

Optimal Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Station Placement Based on Game Theoretical Framework

To reduce the air pollution and improve the energy efficiency, many countries and cities (e.g., Singapore) are on the way of introducing electric vehicles (EVs) to replace the vehicles serving in current traffic system. Effective placement of charging stations is essential for the rapid development of EVs, because it is necessary for providing convenience for EVs and ensuring the efficiency of the traffic network. However, existing works mostly concentrate on the mileage anxiety from EV users but ignore their strategic and competitive charging behaviors. To capture the competitive and strategic charging behaviors of the EV users, we consider that an EV user’s charging cost, which is dependent on other EV users’ choices, consists of the travel cost to access the charging station and the queuing cost in charging stations. First, we formulate the Charging Station Placement Problem (CSPP) as a bilevel optimization problem. Then, by exploiting the equilibrium of the EV charging game, we convert the bilevel optimization problem to a single-level one, following which we analyze the properties of CSPP and propose an algorithm Optimizing eleCtric vEhicle chArging statioN (OCEAN) to compute the optimal allocation of charging stations. Due to OCEAN’s scalability issue, we furthermore present a heuristic algorithm OCEAN with Continuous variables to deal with large-scale real-world problems. Finally, we demonstrate and discuss the results of the extensive experiments we did. It is shown that our approach outperform baseline methods significantly.

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Placement: Formulation, Complexity, and Solutions

To enhance environmental sustainability, many countries will electrify their transportation systems in their future smart city plans. So the number of electric vehicles (EVs) running in a city will grow significantly. There are many ways to re-charge EVs' batteries and charging stations will be considered as the main source of energy. The locations of charging stations are critical; they should not only be pervasive enough such that an EV anywhere can easily access a charging station within its driving range, but also widely spread so that EVs can cruise around the whole city upon being re-charged. Based on these new perspectives, we formulate the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Placement Problem (EVCSPP) in this paper. We prove that the problem is non-deterministic polynomial-time hard. We also propose four solution methods to tackle EVCSPP and evaluate their performance on various artificial and practical cases. As verified by the simulation results, the methods have their own characteristics and they are suitable for different situations depending on the requirements for solution quality, algorithmic efficiency, problem size, nature of the algorithm, and existence of system prerequisite.