Optimization of spatial infrastructure for EV charging

We consider the problem of deploying a spatial supply infrastructure to serve a distributed demand, motivated by Electrical Vehicle charging facilities. We present a series of optimization problems, which include the global transport cost from demand points to supply stations with bounded capacity, and also model demand elasticity. When supply locations are fixed, linear programs of the class of the Monge-Kantorovich problem apply; here our focus is showing that integer solutions that respect the indivisibility of demand units can be found. If locations are part of the design, the problem is not convex; we study iterative methods that generalize the clustering literature. Also, we investigate the issue of sparsity in the allocation, invoking mixed-integer linear program formulations of the facility location problem. The features and tractability of these methods are demonstrated in illustrative simulations. The paper ends by outlining a methodology through which these tools may be used jointly for the progressive deployment and operation of an EV charging infrastructure.