One of the final work packages that needed to be concluded was the proposal for a future infrastructural development of the region. The previous work packages helped to have a picture of the current infrastructure and economic parameters, as well as to model the current and future electric vehicle penetration rates. The increase in future electric energy needed for electric vehicles was calculated and geographically mapped.

But what does that say for the future development for our cross-border region of Bavaria and South Bohemia? One of the most important questions for each municipality in the topic of electro mobility infrastructure development would probably be: does really every village need to have an electric vehicle charging station? Currently, the future is directed into the abandoning of fossil fuel vehicles and as one very promising alternative, electric vehicles are proposed.  However, what does that tell us about the need for establishing a charging station in the own village?

When comparing the border region, what comes to attention first is the triple amount of villages in Czech Republic compared to Germany whereas the region itself is more or less the same size on both sides. Moreover, those Czech municipalities count way less inhabitants than the German ones. Especially when villages are small, the vast amount of inhabitants is living in their own houses or share one house with a maximum of two parties. Those living conditions allow people to charge their electric cars at home and therefore potentially only need recharging possibilities when being on the road to reach one or the other Point of Interest.

One of the possible solutions to know where charging stations should be established therefore, is when considering the expected energy demand per Point of Interest, thus the number of working places, restaurants, dentists, shops and recreation places per area.

This is what we did and can be seen on our soonly established webmap e-road.th-deg.eu

Especially in rural regions, with mainly charging possibilities at home, a possibility is to join forces and establish charging stations where it is of utmost interest to the citizens of the joining municipalities. Thus, the charging station would be plausible  e.g. in areas where many Points of Interest are close to each other as they accumulate individual demands to one joined high demand for a charging station.

The next question to be asked is how the traffic should be organized in the future. Does one want cars to occupy the city centre? Or does one want to leave the cars close by? Is there maybe a main traffic line that should be served simultaneously with electric energy?

After deciding what strategy should be followed and where the charging station really should be placed, the important information missing is whether the grid distribution network is able to provide the needed amount of electric energy. Therefore, it is always handy to have more than one possible location where to place a charging station and then talk to the respective electricity provider.

The current system to establish a charging station nevertheless is a little stressful. While several companies exist that are willing to establish the station itself, the legal steps to be taken to finally be able to establish the station can take quite a lot of time and effort. This is why one should think now when considering to place a charging station to being able to provide citizen the infrastructure they need in the future.