Electric vehicles: A data science perspective review

Abstract

Current trends are showing that the popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) has significantly increased over the last few years, causing changes not only in the transportation industry but generally in business and society. This paper covers one possible angle to the (r)evolution instigated by EVs, i.e., it provides the data science perspective review of the interdisciplinary area at the intersection of green transportation, energy informatics, and economics. Namely, the review summarizes data-driven research in EVs by identifying two main research streams: (i) socio–economic, and (ii) socio–technical. The socio–economic stream includes research in: (i) acceptance of green transportation in countries and among different populations, (ii) current trends in the EV market, and (iii) forecasting future sales for the green transportation. The socio–technical stream includes research in: (i) electric vehicle battery price and capacity and (ii) charging station management. This kind of study is especially important now when the question is no longer whether the transition from internal-combustion engine vehicles to clean-fuel vehicles is going to happen but how fast it will happen and what are going to be implications for society, governmental policies, and industry. Based on the presented literature review, the paper also outlines the most significant open questions and challenges that are yet to be solved: (i) scarcity of trustworthy (open) data, and (ii) designing a generalized methodology for charging station deployment.