Electric vehicle route planning using real-world charging infrastructure in Germany

Abstract Electric vehicles (EVs) are a way to reduce emissions from mobility. To replace conventional vehicles, EVs must be able to deliver a similar level of comfort on long-distance travel. A key enabler here is an adequate charging infrastructure (CI). In this paper, we evaluate the current CI in Germany, a leading adopter of EVs in Europe. The goal of this evaluation is to understand where innovations and investments need to take place such that overall costs are minimized while user comfort is maximized. We perform this evaluation by analysing travel duration for five typical EVs on 60 routes through Germany. We include non-linear, state-of-charge-dependent charging power as well the non-linear velocity-dependent energy consumption. EVs are modelled after five typically used vehicles in Germany and charging stations are based on real-world data taken from the federal registry. This level of detail in modelling allows for representative results. In our sample, travel time is ∼8% longer when charging compared to non-stop driving. The delay strongly depends on route distance where many routes with