Location data turns range anxiety into range awareness

Both the US and Europe are making headway in growing their electric vehicle (EV) ecosystems, with the number of EV sales and charging stations increasing every year. But there’s still considerable work to be done to tackle consumer anxieties.

The 2024 EV Index from mapping pioneer Here and research experts SBD Automotive highlights huge regional differences in EV-readiness and maturity within the key markets of Europe and the US. EV sales growth in the two regions has been slowing over the past few months, with many buyers favouring hybrids as a more accessible eco-friendly option. Consumers continue to report a far from seamless charging experience, with frequent complaints of compatibility issues, usually due to the software of a charger and vehicle not communicating properly. Other units may work but charge at a much slower rate than advertised. While charging location numbers have grown, it’s not enough: just four US states (Washington D.C., Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island) have achieved an optimal ratio of EVs-on-the-road to public chargers, according to the EV Index.

Here Technologies believes that location data could tackle many of these headwinds and hence facilitate the wider EV transition. “Data is a core component to the challenges the industry faces with EVs,” asserts Ronak Amin, Global Product Marketing Manager at Here. The company has access to data from 1.4 million charge points, representing one of the largest data sets of its kind in the world. “When we layer this data on top of a map, we can start informing stakeholders about all sorts of things,” he adds. That could be something as simple as the average distance between chargers or more complex trends into traffic densities where there may be a cluster of charging points but also a high number of EVs in the area.

Here’s location data also sheds light on what chargers are not operating properly. “In many cases, the consumer only finds out this sort of information the hard way by driving somewhere and discovering the station is not compatible or is out of order,” Amin tells Automotive World.

Providing transparency

EV Charge Points is an API service from Here that provides real-time data about charge points, including a charger’s electrical specification and connector type as well as details on the charging hub’s retail facilities and public toilets. The company also offers an API for EV routing, essentially providing turn-by-turn navigation specifically tailored for EVs. This takes into account details of the vehicle’s physical characteristics—its weight, battery capacity, rolling resistance, etc.—to provide more accurate routing predictions. The feature also allows for personalisation such as setting a minimum state of charge level and learning historical travel patterns.

In the future, Here plans to offer even more features. Currently a beta service, EV Charge Point Predictions harnesses proprietary machine learning along with historical and real-time data to predict if a specific charger will be available at the driver’s expected time of arrival. “This gives the driver a probability of charger availability, and they can then decide to take those odds or follow a slightly different route with a better probability,” notes Amin.

Another new service, EV Range Factors, tackles on-route range calculations. The ‘distance-to-empty’ estimate is a big source of range anxiety for consumers and a complex calculation to make accurately. Today’s predictions mostly draw on historical data from previous journeys, but Here’s new solution also takes into account road topography, temperature, and wind data. “The distance-to-empty calculation always has a margin of error,” says Amin. “We include elevation, slope, and curvature data collected from the road surface and bundle predictive temperature and wind data on top of it. That helps the automaker calibrate the distance-to-empty calculation.”

From range anxiety to range awareness

Essentially, EV drivers want to be reassured they can arrive at their destination without any unexpected hiccups. That entails knowing how far they need to drive to find a compatible charger, the chances of finding an unoccupied charger or the expected wait to plug in once they arrive, how quickly they can charge, and what adjacent retail services are on offer while they do.

Location data helps answer all of these questions, drawing on the number of public EV chargers per road length, the average power capacity of public EV chargers, the number of EVs on the road versus internal combustion engine vehicles, the ratio of registered EVs to public chargers, and even the road surface and weather along the selected route. Taken all together, these insights can tackle range and charging concerns.

Here’s aim is to move the needle from range anxiety to range awareness. It’s an effort that involves careful and dedicated coordination among numerous stakeholders, from automakers and EV drivers to energy suppliers, charge point operators, and city planners. “The industry has made impressive strides in just a short time to help alleviate that initial range anxiety,” Amin observes. “Some of that early uncertainty was driven by a lack of public chargers and vehicles not having enough range on board. At the same time, the distance to empty calculation wasn’t totally optimised, so there were genuine concerns that you might not be able to make it home. Today there is much more public charging and better energy storage, but that challenge hasn’t totally gone away.”

As both Europe and the US position for an electric future, additional data-based insights could further their success by optimising EV energy consumption. For example, Amin sees considerable potential in making use of intersection timing data to better improve EV efficiency. “The US has numerous local highways with traffic light intersections, resulting in cars speeding up and then slowing down for the next light. If you can help the vehicle understand how to time that acceleration and slowdown, it could really improve the range of the batteries.”

Looking ahead, these capabilities could prove just the start of location data’s role in shaping the landscape of EV adoption and infrastructure.