Optimal allocation of charging stations for electric vehicles: a two-level approach based on a Binary Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization algorithm

This paper focuses on the optimal allocation of charging stations for electric vehicles. An optimal allocation allows an economical and efficient service to be offered to electric vehicle owners, thus overcoming one of the main barriers to the adoption of this type of transportation. Actions towards encouraging consumers to become new EV owners play a crucial role in environment preservation. The optimal allocation problem is modeled as a two-level optimization problem. In the first level, the charging stations are allocated, while in the second level the vehicle clusters are linked to those charging stations. Both levels are solved by an original, binary Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization algorithm, and its performance is evaluated by comparing it with a conventional programming technique. It is shown that the adopted metaheuristic can provide very good-quality allocation plans.