Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles Powered by Renewable Energy: Spatial Deployment, Typology of Infrastructures and Pionneer Stakeholders

Today, there is a scientific consensus on the need to provide public charging stations to electric vehicles users. Despite their low profitability they address other needs such as the “range anxiety” to help users face battery breakdown and take the leap to purchase one Electric Vehicle (EV). They meet the need for charging occasionally, while travelling or when one is away from home or does not have a garage. The challenges are not only to optimize their location choices but also to power them with renewable energy to improve the environmental impact of electric cars. The ERICA (Renewable Energy for Charging Stations for EV) project, presented in this article, focuses on the emerging deployment of self-powered public charging stations in the Hauts-de-France region in an urban planning perspective (growth rate, locations, stakeholders). The project is part of the CUMIN program, dedicated to the analysis of the conditions for achieving zero-emissions transportation at both local and regional levels in Northern France.