Electric Vehicle Range Anxiety: An Obstacle for the Personal Transportation (R) evolution?

Trends in the electromobility industry, increasing
research efforts related to alternative fueled vehicles, as well
as growing environmental concerns are suggesting that the
transition from the internal combustion engine technology to
electric vehicles (EV) is necessary and inevitable. To ensure and
enable rapid market penetration of EVs, one major obstacle
needs to be addressed - range anxiety, a fear of running
out of electricity before reaching another available charging
station. This research employs a survey methodology to assess
potential EV owners’ perception of range anxiety with the goal
of quantifying and explaining it through key EV parameters:
state of charge (i.e., a relative measure comparing the remaining
amount of energy in the EV battery with the maximum capacity)
and remaining range (i.e., how much distance the EV can still
reach without re-charging). Through the survey analysis, we
answered two relevant research questions that fall into the range
anxiety research agenda: (i) how potential EV owners perceive
the optimal distance between charging stations in comparison to
traditional, well-developed gas station infrastructure; and (ii) how
key EV parameters influence the decision to charge as well as the
distance one is willing to travel to reach another charging station
that may or may not be occupied. This research is beneficial
for business makers as the knowledge about range anxiety is
very important for making decisions about charging station
placement, as well as for the research community since range
anxiety is a variable that could and should be included in various
research areas centered around EVs. Besides business makers and
researchers, this work is beneficial to the society in general as it
may potentially have a positive impact on raising awareness about
the necessity of electrification in the transportation industry.
Index Terms—electric vehicles, green transportation, charging
station infrastructure, range anxiety, survey, data science