Retail4Multi-Use: Research project

The growing electrification of the transportation sector presents significant challenges to expanding charging infrastructure, especially in urban areas like Berlin. The demand for charging stations competes with conventional use for limited public road space. Additionally, many businesses are unable to set up their own charging infrastructure. However, they depend on reliable charging options, which are not available at public charging stations. Meanwhile, charging infrastructure operators are looking for ways to utilize their facilities more efficiently. Multi-use concepts, where charging infrastructure on private property is also made accessible to other user groups, address this by using facilities more efficiently, covering charging requirements, and reducing the need for additional infrastructure.

The Retail4Multi-Use research project analyzes charging requirements at retail locations in Berlin and quantifies the potential of multi-use concepts. A comprehensive demand analysis is being carried out for the years 2035 and 2045 in three scenarios: one without multi-use concepts, one with their implementation, and one with an additional temporal flexibility of charging processes. First, the ramp-up of electromobility in Berlin is modeled based on data regarding existing and new registrations. Then, synthetic driving profiles are created by using real mobility data, and charging requirements are calculated through dynamic simulations. Finally, the geographical distribution of charging requirements in the Berlin city area is determined using publicly accessible geodata.

The results show that, for the reference scenario in 2035, around 3,400 charging points with an annual charging demand of 86 GWh will be required at Berlin retail locations. This demand will increase to 7,700 charging points and 161 GWh by 2045. These values correspond to an 8-10 % share of the total public charging demand. Multi-use concepts can increase the amount of energy charged per charging point at retail locations by up to 160 % by shifting it from public roadways. However, due to a high simultaneity factor, shifts in charging processes with conventional mobility profiles can only reduce the need for public infrastructure expansion to a limited extent. If charging events are made more flexible by up to 12 hours, the need for charging infrastructure in public spaces can be reduced by 12 %.

Simulations show that multi-use concepts are suitable for changing the topology of urban charging infrastructure from many decentralized charging points on public streets to more centralized charging points in retail spaces. This significantly impacts the cost efficiency of charging points and their integration into the electricity grid. This methodology can also be applied to other fields where charging infrastructure is used on private property.