Abstract

Fast charging is seen as a means to facilitate long-distance driving for electric vehicles (EVs). As a result, roll-out planning generally takes a corridor approach. However, with higher penetration of electric vehicles in urban areas, cities contemplate whether inner-city fast chargers can be an alternative for the growing amount of slow public chargers. For this purpose, more knowledge is required in motives and preferences of users and actual usage patterns of fast chargers. Similarly, with increasing charging speeds of fast chargers and different modes (taxi, car sharing) also switching to electric vehicles, the effect of charging speed should be evaluated as well as preferences amongst different user groups. This research investigates the different intentions and motivations of EV drivers at fast charging stations to see how charging behaviour at such stations differs using both data analysis from charging stations as a survey among EV drivers. Additionally, it estimates the willingness of EV drivers to use fast charging as a substitute for on-street home charging given higher charging speeds. The paper concludes that limited charging speeds imply that EV drivers prefer parking and charging over fast charging but this could change if battery developments allow higher charging speeds. Document type: Article

Abstract

We present the results from a choice experiment conducted across Denmark Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden focusing on electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technology. The survey involved the entire Nordic region and had >4000 respondents choosing between two versions of electric vehicles (some including vehicle-to-grid capability) as well as their preferred gasoline vehicle. We analyzed the data using a mixed logit model and present the willingness to pay for driving range, acceleration, recharging time, fuel source, and vehicle-to-grid capability. In addition, due to the cross-national nature of our data, we also present willingness-to-pay comparisons between the five Nordic countries. We find that certain attributes, like driving range and recharging time, are substantially higher than previous estimates, whereas others, like acceleration are lower. In addition, we find that some attributes vary across the five countries (such as driving range), whereas other attributes remain constant. Finally, we find that vehicle-to-grid capability, divorced of onerous contracts, is significantly positive, but only for some countries, whereas in other countries it has no value, implying greater education and awareness of vehicle-to-grid is necessary if it is to accelerate electric vehicle adoption.