Investigating the deployment of initial public charging infrastructure: Planning-based VS market-based approaches

Abstract

An efficient planning of public charging infrastructure is crucial for the uptake of electric vehicles, which requires not only the cost-effectiveness of charging infrastructure construction, but also the effects in accelerating the process of EV promotion. However, the existing studies on the layout of public charging facilities have rarely taken both of these aspects into account. This study aimed to enrich the available literature by evaluating planning-based versus market-based approaches to installing charging piles and optimizing the scheme for initially deploying public charging infrastructure. An agent-based model that integrated the individual heterogeneity of manufacturers and consumers was constructed, with parameter settings that were defined based on the Chinese market. The impact of the initial deployment of public charging piles was compared in terms of planning-based and market-based strategies. The main results indicated a significantly positive effect of public charging piles construction. The market share of passenger EVs at 2040 could increase from 23.58% to 39.38% at most compared to the baseline scenario. Among the two approaches to deploying charging piles, the planning-based strategy proved superior in cultivating a niche market; however, the market-based approach was more cost-efficient from the perspective of long-term market cultivation, allowing savings of up to 14.2% of the investment costs. The study findings provide new evidence and policy implications for the long-term promotion of electric vehicles.