A study of more than 50,000 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations may help determine where to develop charging infrastructure and peak demand times.

Researchers at the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability and Center for Disaster Resilience analyzed real-time data from 54,000 publicly available stations. Preliminary findings were presented in December at the annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis.

The study used individual charging port statuses recorded every 10 minutes at 54,000 stations in three power grid zones: California, Texas, and the Northeast. The first round of data for August 2023 revealed working-hour patterns in all three zones.

In California, about 45 percent of stations showed a working-hours charging pattern from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with peak utilization reaching 80 percent of charging capacity. About 30 percent of stations in Texas showed a similar workday pattern between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. with peak use averaging 60 percent of capacity. In the Northeast, which comprised six states, 28 percent of stations demonstrated a working-hour pattern of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with peak utilization of 55 percent.

Variation in charging behavior between zones may be due to:

• - Differences in the price of electricity;
• - Availability of public charging stations to EV owners; and,
• - Incentive programs that may encourage owners to charge during off-peak hours.