Electrification on the Brazilian Highway: a case study

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a solution to combat greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and help renewable integration. The biggest issue with EV in countries where the infrastructure of EV charges is not yet largely implemented is the called “range anxiety”, but in Brazil, this problem has another factor as the high cost of the EV Charger as the vehicles itself. The high cost of EV in Brazil is a limiting factor to growth the infrastructure. This project tackles this difficulty, developing and implementing the electrification of a highway in southern Brazil, which crosses the State of Paraná from east to west, connecting cities with EV infrastructure. This study analyzed the EVs available in the region and used its effective range to calculate the distance between EV charging stations trying to reduce the so called “range anxiety”. This project offers charging stations with several types of connectors (in order not to restrict EVs models), also, to encourage the use of electric vehicles on this electrified road, there is no fee during the project period (2 years).