A review of consumer preferences of and interactions with electric vehicle charging infrastructure

Abstract

This is the autho s e sio of a o k that was published in the following source: Hardman, S.; Jenn, A.; Beard, G.; Daina, N.;Figenbaum, E.; Jochem, P. E. P.; Kinnear, N. A. D.; Pontes, J. P.;Refa, N.;Turrentine, T. S.; Witkamp, B. (2018). AbstractThis paper presents a literature review of studies that investigate infrastructure needs to support the market introduction of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). It focuses on literature relating to consumer preferences for charging infrastructure, and how consumers interact with and use this infrastructure. This includes studies that use questionnaire surveys, interviews, modelling, GPS data from vehicles, and data from electric vehicle charging equipment. These studies indicate that the most important location for PEV charging is at home, followed by work, and then public locations. Studies have found that more effort is needed to ensure consumers have easy access to PEV charging and that charging at home, work, or public locations should not be free of cost. Research indicates that PEV charging will not impact electricity grids on the short term, however charging may need to be managed when the vehicles are deployed in greater numbers. In some areas of study the literature is not sufficiently mature to draw any conclusions from. More research is especially needed to determine how much infrastructure is needed to support the roll out of PEVs. This paper ends with policy implications and suggests avenues of future research.Next, we provide background information on charging modes and levels and then introduce the approach to the literature review. Section 2 then summarises the literature, whilst Section 3 concludes with insights for policymakers and literature gaps.

Impact of Smart Charging for Consumers in a Real World Pilot

“…For instance, applying a relatively straightforward postponement strategy for a charging session will deliver less economic gains compared to a 'cut and divide' strategy where a session is split into short sessions of, e.g., fifteen minutes [13]; the latter having the advantage to match charging and fluctuating energy prices much better. Lastly some studies show how smart charging may be applied to increase the match with renewable energy generation [11,[14][15][16], while incentives may be applied to stimulate users to allow for rescheduled charging using for instance time of use (TOU) tariffs [17].…”

Mind the gap- open communication protocols for vehicle grid integration

“…This would avoid situations where controllability of charge points could be disabled if a third party operator implementing a proprietary protocol is changed. As such, interoperability would lead to cost savings and better services and charging experience by helping prevent vendors' lock-in, fragmented charging infrastructure; and minimise wasted investment in stranded assets (Ghatikar 2016).…”

“…There is an inherent flexibility in BEV charging demand that facilitates management strategies to reduce reinforcement needs and increase renewable energy integration into electricity systems. This flexibility is due to cars being typically parked for long periods of time and BEVs' battery capacity is in excess of most daily driving requirements (Neaimeh et al 2015;Idaho National Lab 2016;Kempton 2016;Hardman et al 2018;Quiros-Tortos et al 2018).…”

Moving a Taxi Sector to Become Electric: Characterizing Taxi Drivers Interested in Purchasing a Full Electric Vehicle

“…Other studies [14] show that home location charging and workplace charging are the first and second most influential factors in convincing consumers to purchase a Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV), but public (fast) charging infrastructure is likely to be a more fundamental prerequisite for taxi drivers to facilitate a constant driving range suitable for medium-to long-distance passenger transport. This assumption is confirmed by Merksy, Sprei, Samaras and Qian [15], who show that corporate vehicles, such as taxis, rely more on public charging infrastructure by being limited (or restricted) to municipal boundaries.…”

“…Closely related to instrumental attributes, and in studies often included within that attribute, are financial attributes that reflect the factor of costs when purchasing, operating and maintaining an EV. Low maintenance and low operating costs (e.g., charging costs), can for instance be motivators for the purchase of an EV [14]. While some FEVs have a significantly higher purchase price compared to conventional vehicles, research on the total cost of ownership (TCO) shows that EVs could be more financially feasible compared to ICEVs for certain user types [25], in large part due to their low operating and maintenance costs.…”