An advanced review by Deb et al reviews the methods to position charging stations for electric vehicles within cities. In contrast to the current charging demonstrations, the positioning of the future charging infrastructure should be done in such a way that traffic is not jammed nor the electric grid overloaded. The road network, traffic, and strong points in electric grid need to be taken into account when selecting electric vehicle charger locations.
The charging infra for electric vehicles is developing together with electric vehicle technology. There is no more the egg-or-hen-first problem, but the need for both electric vehicles and charging stations is acknowledged. In the future, electric vehicle re-fueling infrastructure will grow significantly in cities and urban areas. Electric vehicles have first emerged in wealthier residential areas where their owners typically have domestic charging facilities available. Electric vehicles in these suburban areas are not at their best in solving pollution problems in cities. In order to increase the number of electric vehicles in cities, public charging stations are required. Then, it is possible to commute and own electric vehicles in cities. The charging stations should not cause an overload for traffic nor grid.
The review explores the global situation regarding to the electric vehicles and their charging. The authors have selected a few example countries and further analyzed their situation together with prominent demonstrations and projects developing the situation. Scientific publications suggesting solutions for charging infrastructure planning have been searched and analyzed. The research work has progressed by selecting suitable performance indicators for charger locations and suggesting several optimization tools to solve the best charger locations. The majority of the tools lean on nature inspired approached such as genetic algorithms.
The overall development of charging infrastructure and electric vehicles seems very promising. The portion of electric traffic remains still minor, but the growth rates are remarkable all over the world.
Kindly contributed by Sanchari Deb, Kari Tammi, Karuna Kalita, Pinakeswar Mahanta.