Charging Station Network Design for Electrified Vehicles in Urban Communities: Reducing Congestion, Emissions, Improving Access

Advantages of electric vehicles (EVs) include diversification of the transportation energy feedstock, reduction of greenhouse gas and other emissions, energy security, fuel economy, reduced operating costs, and reduced emissions leading to lesser air pollution levels. The societal benefits of large-scale adoption of EVs cannot be realized without the adequate deployment of accessible charging stations due to mutual dependence of EV sales and public infrastructure deployment. Companies are introducing more models of electrified vehicles every year around the world. However, a major challenge for achieving large-scale adoption of EVs is an accessible charging infrastructure. The societal benefits of large-scale adoption of EVs cannot be realized without the adequate deployment of accessible charging stations due to mutual dependence of EV sales and public infrastructure deployment. Such infrastructure deployment also presents some unique opportunities for promoting livability within communities. In this research, we develop models and methods to improve community’s access to the EV charging stations. A choice modeling approach embedded into two-stage stochastic programming model is proposed to determine the optimal network of charging stations including type, capacity, and location of electric charging stations based on EV drivers preference. The adoption of potential EV charging stations depends on drivers’ willingness to walk, final destinations, and likeliness to use multi-modal transportation. The utility of the modeling framework along with behavioral models will be demonstrated using an actual data set representing a community.