WEcharge: democratizing EV charging infrastructure

TL;DR

WEcharge introduces a resource matching algorithm that enables sharing privately owned EV charging stations with public users, addressing urban space limitations and promoting infrastructure growth.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel resource matching algorithm tailored for EV charging infrastructure sharing, incorporating user preferences and constraints.

Findings

Matching preferences significantly influence resource allocation.

The model effectively identifies suitable charging stations in a real-world case study.

Sharing privately owned chargers can enhance infrastructure utilization.

Abstract

The sustainable growth of EVs will have to be met with proportional growth in EV charging infrastructure. With limited urban spaces to place new charging stations, shrinking profitability, privately owned charging facilities need to be shared. WEcharge will allow privately owned charging infrastructure to be shared with public EV owners using a business model. We propose a resource matching algorithm that takes into account incoming EV preferences, hard constraints for such EV, and provides the best suited resource for charging. We demonstrate the applicability of the matching model by showing a realistic case study with a Nissan Leaf 40 kW EV and 25 company and publicly owned charging stations (DC fast charger, AC rapid charger, level 1 and level 2 charger) in Hasselt, Belgium. The case study shows that consumer preferences will govern resource matching.