Electric Vehicle Charging Framework in Singapore
Introduction
Electric cars first appeared in 1820, however, the limitations of power didn’t bring them to the limelight until the 20th century. Governments of several countries have shown great interest in adopting electric vehicles. As early as mid-2017, BlueSG Pte Ltd, a Bolloré Group subsidiary, will offer electric car-sharing services in Singapore. Additionally, electric vehicles reduce noise pollution, have low maintenance costs for consumers, make good use of vehicle space, and are easy to drive.
Despite the above developments, several factors still obscure the prospects of EV. A few of these factors are the battery life, charging time, availability of charging stations, the cost for charging, and safety. EVs might be required to be charged in scenarios where they still have reasonable charge and these scenarios could put the EV driver in a dilemma as the margin is limited compared to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICEs)
Singapore is unique because it covers a total area of 719.1 km2 and averages about 50 km per day in car travel. EV charging stations in most countries are concentrated around specific neighborhoods and hence the cost of charging (uniform charging or dynamic charging) could significantly affect the EV user behavior. Electricity companies may charge different rates during non-peak times as well as during peak hours. Singapore does not have dedicated charging points since most people live in public flats.
EV Battery and Charger
Table 1 compares the battery power capacity, range, cost per km, and charging time for typical EVs currently available in the market for typical EV vehicles. Lithium-ion batteries require the least maintenance, are less susceptible to memory effect, and require no scheduled cycling. For subcompact EVs, the batteries have an energy capacity of 12 – 18 kWh, for mid-sized family sedans, 22 – 50 kWh, and for luxury models, such as those from Tesla, 60 – 85 kWh. The charging rate of the battery depends on the type of charger used and the initial charge in the battery.
Most EVs or EV users have smartphones that can be enabled to communicate with charging networks. The EVs could also be equipped with built-in communication modules. The charging network would be responsible for sharing the parameters in Table 3 while maintaining privacy. This information may also be used by EV manufacturers to examine their batteries and performance. Charging stations can analyze the charging patterns of EV users in order to adjust their pricing and business models.
Charging Station Selection Criteria
Our method of calculating travel times based on the Google Maps API allows us to rank the five easiest charging stations according to their travel times. Pricing factors affect the charging station criteria. Table 3 lists the parameters that we used when simulating an EV charging network with JAVA programming. We used the standard Singaporean exchange rate, which is S$3.99 to S$5.99. Google Maps was also used to calculate distance and estimate the charging station’s location.
Simulation
With the parameters listed in Table 3, we used JAVA programming to simulate the EVs and the 30 charging stations. Google Maps was used to estimate the distance between the EV and the charging stations as well as the time it would take to reach the charging station under realistic traffic conditions. We randomly assigned p! Singapore taxi rates with a flag down fee of S$3.40 and a per-kilometer fee of S$0.44 range from 5.99 to 14.99 Singapore dollars. Figure 1 illustrates EV charging stations in Singapore.
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