Decision Making Support for Local Authorities Choosing the Method for Siting of In-City EV Charging Stations

Development of electromobility in urban areas requires an appropriate level of vehicle charging infrastructure. Numerous methods for siting of charging stations have been developed to date, and they appear to be delivering diverse outcomes for the same area, which is why local authorities face the problem of choosing the right station layout. The solution proposed in this article is to use a travel planner to evaluate the distribution of charging stations over the area of a metropolis. The decision making support is achieved by determining optimal travel routes for electric vehicles according to their initial state of charge for the three selected station siting methods. The evaluation focused on the following three aspects: (1) number of travels that cannot be made (due to the lack of a charging station at a certain distance around the start point), (2) extension of the travel caused by the need to recharge the vehicle on-route, and (3) additional energy consumption by electric vehicles required to reach the charging station (necessity of departing from the optimal route). An analysis of the results has made it possible to determine a solution which is superior to others. For the case study analysed in the paper, i.e., the territory of the Metropolis of Upper Silesia and Dabrowa Basin (Gornoslasko-Zaglebiowska Metropolia, GZM), the distribution of charging stations established in line with method I has returned the best results. What the method in question also makes possible is to indicate a safe minimum energy reserve to complete the travel by eliminating situations of unexpected vehicle immobilisation due to on-route energy depletion and by minimising the phenomenon referred to as range anxiety.