eTranSym: A Tool for Gap Assessment and Demand Profile Projection of Public Charging Infrastructure in Electrified Transportation Systems

Project Description

We will focus on the listed problems to meet the research priority in ‘vehicle electrification’ of ITS RFP.

>> The current EVs and public charging facilities are mainly distributed in non-disadvantaged areas (non-DACs). This inequitable allocation restricts the participation of DACs in EV-related activities, raising a study need of identifying regional infrastructure gaps in ‘vehicle electrification’.
>> The EV market development (of passenger vehicles and trucks) heavily relies on the installation of public chargers, while the current facilities are far from matching the needs, particularly for DACs, requiring research to quantify the public charging demand in communities that contributes to the topic of evaluating the needs of communities especially of low-income communities in ‘vehicle electrification’.
>> There exist studies/tools discussing the gaps and needs of public chargers at the state/county/city level; however, research that concentrates on this topic regarding DACs and non-DACs is limited, calling for a community-level research implementation for all topics in ‘vehicle electrification’.
>> Smart charging strategies by sharing system charging information to EV users can manage their charging behaviors, which may also improve the future public charger allocation, existing an application necessity on the future EV fleet and systems, in the topic of examining smarter vehicle charging strategies in ‘vehicle electrification’.