An electric vehicle charging station access equilibrium model with M/D/C queueing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel EV charging station access equilibrium model using M/D/C queues, along with a derivative-free solution algorithm, applied to NYC data to inform charging infrastructure investment policies.

Contribution

It develops a new equilibrium assignment model with a queue approximation and a derivative-free algorithm, applied to real-world data for policy insights.

Findings

Model converges to equilibrium in computational tests.

Charging station location policies differ based on utilization versus queue delay.

Application to NYC data demonstrates practical policy implications.

Abstract

Despite the dependency of electric vehicle (EV) fleets on charging station availability, charging infrastructure remains limited in many cities. Three contributions are made. First, we propose an EV-to-charging station user equilibrium (UE) assignment model with a M/D/C queue approximation as a nondifferentiable nonlinear program. Second, to address the non-differentiability of the queue delay function, we propose an original solution algorithm based on the derivative-free Method of Successive Averages. Computational tests with a toy network show that the model converges to a UE. A working code in Python is provided free on Github with detailed test cases. Third, the model is applied to the large-scale case study of New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (NYC DCAS) fleet and EV charging station configuration as of July 8, 2020, which includes unique, real data for 563 Level 2 chargers and 4 Direct Current Fast Chargers (DCFCs) and 1484 EVs distributed over 512 Traffic Analysis Zones. The arrival rates of the assignment model are calibrated in the base scenario to fit an observed average utilization ratio of 7.6% in NYC. The model is then applied to compare charging station investment policies of DCFCs to Level 2 charging stations based on two alternative criteria. Results suggest a policy based on selecting locations with high utilization ratio instead of with high queue delay.