Location of Charging Stations Considering Services and Power Losses: Case Study

The wide adoption of environmentally friendly solutions for transportation, such as Electric Vehicles (EVs), is crucial to reducing greenhouse gases and mitigate the effects of climate change. To meet the growing demand of EVs, enough Charging Stations (CSs) must be deployed. In this study, the Ultra-Fast Charging (UFC) technology is investigated, and a method is proposed to locate the minimum indispensable UFC infrastructure to enable a nationwide travel, considering both infrastructure costs and power losses. To address the location problem, first the average electric range of the EVs currently on the market is analyzed to estimate the maximum allowable distance between two consecutive CS. In the assessment of the driving range all the factors which influence the energy consumption are considered. The CSs are then located within the existing Service Areas (SAs) to save infrastructure costs while meeting the maximum distance constraint between charging stations. Then, a cost comparison is performed between the economic impact of power losses and the savings from reduced infrastructure costs. The methodology is applied to the Italian highway network. Results show that installing charging infrastructure within existing SAs is more cost-effective than placing them near Medium Voltage (MV) cabins.