Planning equitable on-street residential EV charging infrastructure : Evidence from Dublin City

Li, Qihui and Zhao, Nan and Carroll, Páraic (2026) Planning equitable on-street residential EV charging infrastructure : Evidence from Dublin City. Journal of Transport Geography, 130: 104473. ISSN 0966-6923

Abstract

The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) presents challenges to the equitable deployment of charging infrastructure. Ensuring equitable access to residential charging stations is critical for supporting widespread EV adoption across diverse communities. As such, research on applying charging equity theories to the placement of residential charging stations remains essential. Based on the Irish national household travel survey and census data, this study introduces a Monte Carlo simulation model for charging demand estimation. Grounded in utilitarianism, sufficientarianism, and vertical equity, a multi-objective optimisation model is proposed for siting and sizing charging stations, along with their connections to transformers across disadvantaged, intermediate and advantaged communities. A case study in Dublin examines the proposed models under various EV penetration scenarios. The results reveal the spatial and temporal distribution of day-of-week charging demands across 524 communities. Subsequently, 63 and 82 stations with 102 and 166 chargers, and powered by 63 and 74 transformers, are planned for the 30 % and 50 % EV penetration scenarios, respectively. The findings highlight that neglecting charging demand heterogeneity can result in under- or over-supply of infrastructure. The study further emphasises that incorporating diverse charging equity theories into planning objective and constraint formulation can significantly promote equitable charging accessibility across disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged communities. The model is primarily applicable to residential areas that mix disadvantaged and other communities, rely heavily on on-street parking, and exhibit stable EV adoption.