A scoping review on electric vehicle charging strategies with a technical, social, and regulatory feasibility evaluation
Kristoffer Christensen, Zheng Ma, Bo Nørregaard Jôrgensen
Abstract
The growing use of electric vehicles presents a challenge of grid overload due to simultaneous, large-scale charging. Implementing smart charging strategies, which require careful consideration of unique regional conditions, isn't straightforward. Additionally, a systematic method for assessing strategy feasibility based on local needs is missing in the current literature, hindering effective deployment. Therefore, this study conducts a comprehensive exploration and evaluation of smart electric vehicle charging strategies with the scoping review and multi-criteria evaluation methods to critically investigate existing smart electric vehicle charging strategies, and assesses their feasibility of implementation in specific regional contexts, using Denmark's electric vehicle home charging as a case study. The scoping review is based on 95 full-text articles and analyzes 43 commonly discussed electric vehicle charging strategies, with most literature focusing on real-time pricing and time-of-use pricing strategies. We categorize electric vehicle charging strategies into four key dimensions: charging architecture, data requirements, intelligence level, and applied methods. Of the 27 identified methods, linear programming and the heuristic method are most prevalently utilized, showing a close correlation between data requirement levels and the chosen methods. Literature reflects a discourse on both operational and monetary objectives of electric vehicle charging strategies from the vantage point of grid operators, aggregators, and electric vehicle users. The results from the multi-criteria feasibility evaluation of the Danish case show that time-of-use pricing, real-time pricing, and timed charging strategies rank among the seven most feasible strategies for electric vehicle home charging in Denmark.