Geographic Factors Impacting the Demand for Public EV Charging: An Observational Study

The practicality and substitutability of electric vehicles depend on there being a fast, reliable way to recharge on round trips beyond the range of a single charge. Grouping such infrastructure into charging hubs benefits developers and operators through economies of scale and electric vehicle drivers in terms of travel logistics and passed-through cost savings. The need for charging capacity at en-route charging hubs is impacted by the following four identifiable geo-social parameters: (a) highway travel volumes, reflecting the rate at which electric vehicles are expending energy in the area; (b) local population, reflecting both the increased needs of electric vehicle owners without dedicated home chargers and the reduced needs of those commuting into a metropolitan center; (c) the quantity of competing charging stations; and (d) being on a critical interprovincial route. Twelve charging stations located in diverse locations around Nova Scotia, Canada, were evaluated in terms of these four parameters, and their recorded use was investigated from a dataset of 26,000 charging events between April 2022 and April 2024. The regression reveals that there are strong positive correlations between demand for fast charging and (a) traffic volumes (45%) and (c) being on an interprovincial route (42%), while there is only a very weak correlation with (b) local population (2%). Interestingly, there is only a weak negative correlation with (c) the number and capacity of nearby competing chargers (-6%), suggesting that either in short-term route choice or longer-term vehicle choice, the presence of chargers encourages electric vehicles.