Evaluation of Electric Vehicle Charging Usage and Driver Activity

As the country moves toward electric vehicles (EV), the United States is in the process of investing over USD 7.5 billion in EV charging stations, and Indiana has been allocated $100 million to invest in their EV charging network. In contrast to traditional “gas stations”, EV charging times, depending on the charger power delivery rating, can require considerably longer dwell times. As a result, drivers tend to pair charging with other activities. This study looks at two EV public charging locations and monitors driver activity while charging, charge time, and station utilization over a 2-month period in Lafayette, Indiana. Over 4000 charging sessions at stations with varying power levels (350 kW, 150 kW, and 50 kW) were monitored, and the median charge time was between 28 and 36 min. A large variation in station utilization was observed at Electrify America charging stations that had a range of stations with 350 kW, 150 kW, and 50 kW available. The highest utilization rates by hour of day on average were observed at 25% at the 150 kW Tesla station. Driver activity during charging influenced dwell times, with the average dwell time of drivers who waited in their vehicles to charge being 10 min shorter than those who would travel to the shops. Rain in the forecast also impacted the number of users per day. Although there are no published metrics for EV utilization and associated driver activities, we believe examining this relationship will produce best practices for planning future investments in EV charging infrastructure as public and private sector partners develop a nationwide charging network.