A systematic literature review of electric vehicle charging usage and operation mechanisms by charging location type
Abstract
This study conducts a systematic literature review to identify the characteristics of public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and their differentiation by installation location. Focusing on peer-reviewed academic journals, we employed VOSviewer to perform a longitudinal clustering analysis. Public EV chargers were categorized into four types: residential, workplace, commercial, and industrial. Our review reveals that most studies concentrate on residential and workplace charging, with comparatively limited attention to commercial and industrial contexts. The dominant geographic focus lies in the U.S., China, and Europe. Key themes across the literature include grid implications and smart charging, which remain prominent from 2010 to the present. Time-of-use pricing, demand-response strategies, and vehicle-to-grid integration are frequently discussed but are less emphasized in industrial settings, where transformer optimization is prioritized. Each charging type exhibits distinct temporal usage peaks: residential in the evening, workplace in the morning, commercial during business hours, and industrial periodically depending on work shifts. User behavior and operational mechanisms differ. Chargers also vary in access type, private, semi-private, or semipublic, and their operational and behavioral patterns evolve interdependently. Despite continued attention to smart charging and the growing focus on sustainable charging, there remains a lack of empirical studies addressing resilience, equity concerns, and human-AI interaction in charging systems. Based on our findings, we define public EV charging as infrastructure accessible to the general public and designed to serve a wide range of EV users.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
Wireless Power Transfer Systems
Advanced Battery Technologies Research
Publication details
- Journal / source
- International Journal of Sustainable Transportation
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Pages
- 1–23
- Publication date
- 20 May 2026
- Language
- EN