Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs

Abstract As global electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerates, granular analysis of empirical usage and charging patterns remains scarce. This study presents a unique large-scale empirical examination of 1.6 million EVs, including a broad array of vehicle types—private, taxi, rental, official, bus,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Weipeng Zhan, Yuan Liao, Junjun Deng, Zhenpo Wang, Sonia Yeh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44333-024-00023-3
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850027908801757184
author Weipeng Zhan
Yuan Liao
Junjun Deng
Zhenpo Wang
Sonia Yeh
author_facet Weipeng Zhan
Yuan Liao
Junjun Deng
Zhenpo Wang
Sonia Yeh
author_sort Weipeng Zhan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract As global electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerates, granular analysis of empirical usage and charging patterns remains scarce. This study presents a unique large-scale empirical examination of 1.6 million EVs, including a broad array of vehicle types—private, taxi, rental, official, bus, and special purpose vehicle—across seven major Chinese cities with over 854 million observations of driving and charging events. Our findings illuminate significant heterogeneity in EV usage, battery energy, and charging behavior across vehicle types with notable city differences. Day-time high-power charging presents high loads on the electricity grid across all vehicle types, particularly from service-oriented vehicles, including taxis, rental cars, and buses. The maximum loads also are the highest in the center of the cities. Our study of large-scale EV usage offers critical insights for developing charging infrastructure, managing energy grids, and providing flexibility services, which are pivotal to the evolution of future transport ecosystems.
format Article
id doaj-art-7958f33fddef4e3f9158407fc0fc3903
institution DOAJ
issn 3004-8664
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport
spelling doaj-art-7958f33fddef4e3f9158407fc0fc39032025-08-20T02:59:59ZengNature Portfolionpj Sustainable Mobility and Transport3004-86642025-03-012111010.1038/s44333-024-00023-3Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needsWeipeng Zhan0Yuan Liao1Junjun Deng2Zhenpo Wang3Sonia Yeh4National Engineering Laboratory for Electric Vehicles, Beijing Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of TechnologyNational Engineering Laboratory for Electric Vehicles, Beijing Institute of TechnologyNational Engineering Laboratory for Electric Vehicles, Beijing Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of TechnologyAbstract As global electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerates, granular analysis of empirical usage and charging patterns remains scarce. This study presents a unique large-scale empirical examination of 1.6 million EVs, including a broad array of vehicle types—private, taxi, rental, official, bus, and special purpose vehicle—across seven major Chinese cities with over 854 million observations of driving and charging events. Our findings illuminate significant heterogeneity in EV usage, battery energy, and charging behavior across vehicle types with notable city differences. Day-time high-power charging presents high loads on the electricity grid across all vehicle types, particularly from service-oriented vehicles, including taxis, rental cars, and buses. The maximum loads also are the highest in the center of the cities. Our study of large-scale EV usage offers critical insights for developing charging infrastructure, managing energy grids, and providing flexibility services, which are pivotal to the evolution of future transport ecosystems.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44333-024-00023-3
spellingShingle Weipeng Zhan
Yuan Liao
Junjun Deng
Zhenpo Wang
Sonia Yeh
Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs
npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport
title Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs
title_full Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs
title_fullStr Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs
title_full_unstemmed Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs
title_short Large-scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs
title_sort large scale empirical study of electric vehicle usage patterns and charging infrastructure needs
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s44333-024-00023-3
work_keys_str_mv AT weipengzhan largescaleempiricalstudyofelectricvehicleusagepatternsandcharginginfrastructureneeds
AT yuanliao largescaleempiricalstudyofelectricvehicleusagepatternsandcharginginfrastructureneeds
AT junjundeng largescaleempiricalstudyofelectricvehicleusagepatternsandcharginginfrastructureneeds
AT zhenpowang largescaleempiricalstudyofelectricvehicleusagepatternsandcharginginfrastructureneeds
AT soniayeh largescaleempiricalstudyofelectricvehicleusagepatternsandcharginginfrastructureneeds