Utilization Analysis of Rapid and Ultra-Rapid Electric Vehicle Chargers in Europe

Electric Vehicle (
$E$
V) chargers operating in rapid and ultra-rapid modes have been increasingly implemented in recent years. However, their utilization trends have not been well assessed in Europe. Therefore, this article analyzes a dataset containing nearly 10,000 EV chargers and over 10 million EV charging events from the past four years. The dataset includes in-formation such as geographical location, connection and charging times, State-of-Charge (SoC) values, and energy delivered during each charging event. The analysis focuses on three representative European countries: Germany, France, and Norway, which collectively account for 60 % of the total EV charging stations in Europe. The analysis of EV charging events reveals that over 99 % of the connection periods last less than 2 hours, with an average connection time of 33 minutes. The estimation of EV battery capacities based on arrival and departure SoC values is also addressed. Additionally, this article proposes a methodology for classifying EV chargers into different clusters based on their nearest service utilization. The evaluated clusters include commercial, industrial, leisure, parking, residential, retail, and workplace. The analysis highlights that the retail cluster has the highest number of charging events. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the behavior and characteristics of EV charging stations in Europe. The findings can be used to optimize charging strategies and improve electrical grid reliability.