Problems of electric transport operation

The growth of production of electric motor-driven vehicles is due to the aim to reduce air pollution in the areas of their operation. The aim of the review is to analyze the issues of the electric vehicles distribution due to the provision of charging infrastructure and the functional characteristics of the electric vehicles themselves.

The issues of electric vehicle operation associated with the availability and design of electric charging stations and the type of traction batteries are considered. In addition, the data based on collecting and analyzing the characteristics of the stations in one of the regional centers of Russia and within a radius of 100 km from this center are given. The distribution of electric transport requires, firstly, the sufficient level of the charging infrastructure and its compliance with the design of the charging ports of electric vehicles. Secondly, reducing the charging time of traction batteries, which is still significantly longer than the time of refueling cars with traditional fuel. And thirdly, ensuring the possibility of not only urban and suburban, but also long-distance trips on one charge of traction batteries. Lithium-ion traction batteries are most commonly used in electric vehicles due to their high energy density. However, their disadvantage is that they are effective at an ambient temperature down to -7°C, which predetermines the mileage on one charge in winter by 20-30% less than in the warm season, due to both a decrease in battery capacity and the use of electricity to provide heating of the electric vehicle interior and power supply of various consumers. To analyze the spreading of stations, along with the criteria of “number of electric vehicles per stations” and “distance between neighboring stations”, the criterion of “number of charging stations per area unit of the region” is important. The value of this review lies in the assessment of the problems of operating electric vehicles, including providing specific data for one of the regions of Russia.