Stations of the future: a study of EV charging stations considering user’ requirements and expectations

Automotive and mass transport sector

25 November 2024.

 

Autor/es: Juan F. Giménez, Amparo López-Vicente, Carol Soriano García, Arizona Dylan Vitoria, Ángel Moya *, Alberto Zambrano Galbis *, Raquel Marzo Rosello, José Solaz Sanahuja, Elisa Signes Pérez.

Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV)

USER-CHI (Innovative solutions for USER centric CHarging Infrastructure) is a European project that proposes an active collaboration between the industry, cities and citizens in order to co-create and demonstrate a set of solutions and tools designed to encourage the mass deployment and acceptance of electric vehicles (EV) in Europe. One of the activities carried out in this project was the definition of charging stations for electric and light vehicles that take into account the needs and expectations of the main stakeholders in electric mobility. Based on qualitative and quantitative research and applying user experience (UX) principles, we have gathered insights into the charging preferences and patterns of electric vehicle drivers. These insights have enabled us to identify the basic requirements and characteristics that create value in the electric vehicle charging process and that should be included in the development of a charging station that meets the expectations of the end user. Taking these features, we have defined four different concepts for the stations of the future: Intermodal stations, Highway Stations, LEV Stations and Urban Stations. These concepts have been documented in a handbook that includes a realistic outline of each concept, a presentation of its main characteristics divided into three categories (Technologies-Services-Location) and business models related to the concept. Five member cities[1] of the USER-CHI consortium have participated in the development of the business models and have hosted the demonstration pilots of the project’s results. The main features of the business model associated with each station are presented in a new, reduced format that includes four categories: Value, Business, Market and Flow.

 

INTRODUCTION

No sector in Europe consumes more energy [1] and no sector causes more air pollution in our cities [2] than the transport sector: it is clearly in need of a profound decarbonisation revolution. Technologies and disruptive business models are also radically transforming European citizens’ understanding of mobility [3]. Our growing environmental awareness and new mobility habits present a unique opportunity to introduce electric vehicles on a large scale. However, although the European Union (EU) has pledged to ensure full deployment of EV infrastructure in all its member countries [4], a dense European network of charging infrastructure that is both interoperable and accessible to the public is far from being a reality. In fact, the lack of a charging infrastructure, insufficient vehicle autonomy and the time it takes to charge them are considered to be the main drawbacks that differentiate electric vehicles from traditional internal combustion vehicles, if driver experience is anything to go by [5] [6].

On the other hand, current business models and charging infrastructure revenues are not sufficient to guarantee sustained and robust market growth. This in turn creates a lack of confidence in the electric vehicle sector as a whole and makes hesitant users doubt whether or not to buy one, which leads to a vicious circle of frozen demand due to unsatisfactory supply, and vice versa.

One of the key elements to break this vicious circle is the design and development of charging solutions aimed at resolving and satisfying the needs and desires of electric mobility clients from different socio-economic backgrounds and market segments.

One of the products related to the project’s objectives is the definition of guidelines with recommendations on how a charging station should be designed to meet the requirements and expectations of the main stakeholders in electric mobility. Whenever they charge an electric vehicle, drivers require a procedure that allows them to book a charging point with guaranteed availability as soon as they arrive [7][8]. But this essential requirement, which depends on the availability of a dense network of charging points, is just the first step towards satisfying the demands of electric mobility clients. The next step has to do with the features that facilitate the charging process, such as standardisation, interoperability and automatic user recognition, and the desired requirements, i.e., those that allow maximum control over the charging process, such as real-time monitoring or the different tariff structures.

Technology plays an important role in defining installations that meet these requirements, but other factors must also be taken into account, such as urban planning and intermodal mobility, given that electromobility should encompass not only long-distance travel, but also urban and peri-urban transport.

This article presents the results obtained from the charging station definition process, based on the requirements identified by the social research carried out in the context of the USER-CHI project.

DEFINING THE STATIONS OF THE FUTURE

The co-creation process

The recapitulation of the requirements of the main stakeholders in electric mobility generated during the qualitative and quantitative research [8] was used as the starting information for a co-creation process involving all the members of the USER-CHI consortium, including IT developers, researchers, business consultants and urban mobility agents. The first co-creation process meeting produced two conceptual solutions: one for an intermodal station and one for a LEV (Light Electric Vehicle) station. Both concepts were turned into digital drawings. Figure 1 depicts the intermodal station concept.

When we evaluated the drawings, it became clear that the intermodal station concept was not suitable for a city centre, where space is scarce and therefore expensive. Moreover, the concept did not include facilities for logistics operations or an intermodal ticket sales point. On the other hand, we also collected a number of suggestions for improving LEV charging stations, such as the need for the solution to be modular and scalable, for its design to be more attractive, or for the inclusion of battery swapping solutions.

 

Figure 1: Digital drawing of the conceptual design of an intermodal station

Table 1 presents the main characteristics of the four concepts that were ultimately defined, based on three categories. The “Technology” category refers to the main technological solutions to be included in the facilities; “User Services/Demands” includes the services that end users expect to find to meet their principal demands, and “Location” presents the features of the physical spaces that can accommodate each station.

Table 1: Main characteristics of the station concepts.

The business models’ definition

The scope of the USER-CHI project included the analysis and definition of different business models [9], taking into account different scenarios as well as the myriad players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, specifying for each participating pilot city the following elements: market characteristics, market trends, market constraints and restrictions, target clients and their profile, market size and business opportunities, and also considering viability, attractiveness and financial sustainability. This process allowed us to define seven business models: logistics centres, electric mobility stations for citizens, city centre (parking and charging), electric trucks, electric taxi rank, exceptional events and mobile charging stations.

Although the conceptual stations described in Table 1 are not fully represented by any particular defined business model, they are represented by a combination of them. In this way, by relating the different business models to the future station concepts, we concluded that:

• Intermodal Station is a logistics Hub-Citizen e-Mobility Station City Centre (Park&Charge) -e-Taxi Stops,
• Urban Station is a Logistics Hub-Citizen Centre (Park&Charge) -e-Taxi Stops,
• Highway Station is Citizen e-Mobility Station-e-Trucks-Special Events-Mobile Charching Stations, and
• LEV Station is Citizen e-Mobility Station-City Centre (Park&Charge).

The main characteristics of the business models associated with each conceptual station were merged, using the well-known CANVAS business model. The main characteristics of the business model related to each conceptual station were presented in a new, reduced format, including four categories: Business, which combines Key Partners-Key Activities-Key Resources, Market, which encompasses Client Segments–Client Relations–Channels, Flow, which includes Revenue Flows-Cost Structure, and Value.

RESULTS

We created and presented conceptual designs in the form of digital drawings to show the main characteristics of the four stations defined in the project. (Table 1). Figure 2 presents a station focused on facilitating multimodal mobility, housing collective and individual transport solutions in the same facility. It includes different charging technologies for EVs and LEVs, as part of the added-value services that users are increasingly coming to expect. In addition, the concept also includes services that are more related to the desirable features that are being demanded, such as relaxation areas or co-working facilities. On the other hand, the concept also takes urban logistic needs into consideration.

Figure 2: The International Station of the Furute

 

Figure 3 presents a concept for a charging station in a city centre, minimising the impact on an area with a high potential for saturation. The concept proposes a charging solution focused on parking and charging, where access control is required. As in the case of the intermodal station, logistics are included in this charging station proposal.

Figure 3: The Urban Station of the Future

 

The sketch of the Highway Station of the future (Figure 4) presents a facility not unlike the stations we have today on European highways, but the concept elaborates on the additional services that users will use while charging an electric vehicle on a long-distance journey. Fast chargers are a must in these stations, but the concept aims to cover additional needs, such as charging solutions for electric trucks or mobile charging stations to help drivers with problems related to the range of their electric vehicle or extreme weather events.

Figure 4: The Highway Station of the Future

LEV chargers of the future are multimodal stations for urban areas, where light electric vehicles are integrated with public transport, to promote active mobility and intermodal transport (Figure 5). The concept presented here is intended to have a low impact on the city by adapting to street furniture and using sustainable charging technologies such as those based on photovoltaic panels.

Figure 5: The LEV Station of the Future

CONCLUSIONS

This article presents four concepts for charging stations for EV and LEVs, which aspire to meet the demands not only of drivers of electric vehicles but also of the main players in the mobility sector.  Although the drawings attempt to present feasible solutions, they do not attempt to define standards or closed solutions; rather, the authors’ aim is to highlight the need to generate new charging infrastructures for the new electromobility.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank all the members of the USER-CHI consortium for their active participation in the generation of the results presented in this article (available on the project website [10]), in particular the project coordinator, ETRA R&D. This project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement no. [875187].

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Eurostat, Consumption of energy, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Archive:Consumption_of_energy.
2. World Health Organization, Background information on urban outdoor air pollution, https://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/background_information/en/.
3. SmartCitiesWorld, 2019: The year of the micro-mobility revolution, https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/opinions/opinions/2019-the-year-of-the-micro-mobility-revolution.
4. European Parliament and Council, Directive 2014/94/EU on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, 2014.
5. Lebeau, K., Van Mierlo, J., Lebeau, P., Mairesse, O., Macharis, C., Consumer attitudes towards battery electric vehicles: A large-scale survey, International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, 2013, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEHV.2013.053466.
6. InsideEVs, Poll Suggests Lack Of Charging Stations Is Biggest EV Buying Deterrent, 2018, https://insideevs.com/poll-suggests-lack-of-charging-stations-is-biggest-ev-buying-deterrent/
7. USER-CHI project website, https://www.userchi.eu/
8. Giménez, J.F., López-Vicente, A., Soriano, C., Marzo, R., Solaz, J., Signes, E., USER-CHI: Enhancing electomobility by improving user experience of EV drivers, Proceedings of the FISITA 2021 World Congress, Prague, 13–17 September 2021, https://doi.org/10.46720/F2020-MCF-063
9. D8.8 Business models validation results (I), https://www.userchi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/D8.8-Business-model-validation-resultsI.pdf
10. Stations of the Future Handbook, https://www.userchi.eu/products/station-of-the-future/

AUTHOR’S AFFILIATION

Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia
Universitat Politècnica de València
Edificio 9C. Camino de Vera s/n
(46022) Valencia. Spain

* ETRA I+D