Continued growth in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) registrations in Washington state will require continued growth in EV charging infrastructure. Washington is anticipating considerable investment in direct current fast charging (DCFC) stations over the next several years. Given that funding is finite and DCFC stations are expensive, public investments must be made where they can generate the biggest impact on EV adoption and travel. To help WSDOT determine where it should invest in highway corridor DC fast charging, researchers developed a decision support system (ChargEVal) in which planners can specify the locations and characteristics of charging stations along Washington’s highway network (such as number of plugs and charging power). The system then calculates key performance indicators for the resulting charging network. ChargEVal can be used for any geography, small or big, and will be released as an open-source system, so various public and private agencies can benefit from its use. This project will make ChargEVal available to WSDOT staff and contractors as a Web tool to support analysis of potential additions to the charging network.
Principal Investigator: Don MacKenzie, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Tonia Buell
WSDOT Project Manager: Doug Brodin
Scheduled completion: June 2021