Monit: More EVs, More Challenges for Infrastructure and Parking

The number of Electric Vehicles (EV) on the road is rapidly growing. This creates challenges for EV charging infrastructure and parking. Our colleague Peter Dingemans gave his view on this subject in a recent interview for the Intertraffic 2024 event. In this article a summary of the interview, and how Monit Data is facing some of the new challenges of the EV growth.

We see more and more EVs on the streets around us. These EV all increase demands on charging infrastructure and parking spaces. But parking is also still needed for traditional fossil-fueled cars. In addition, many cities want to reduce the number of cars on the street to create a more livable environment for its inhabitants and visitors. And as we read in many news stories our electricity grid appears to be unprepared for this new and growing need for energy.

Considering all this, will the supply of EV infrastructure and parking therefore ever meet the growing demand? For Intertraffic 2024 in Amsterdam, our colleague Peter Dingemans, in his role as EPA and VEXPAN board member, gave an interview about these challenges. In this article we provide a brief summary of the interview. You can read the entire original interview via the link below.

At Monit Data we first-hand recognize the changes the electrification of the car brings, and with it the new insights that parking operators now need. Amongst the many challenges of the growing number of EVs, the interview also touches on some subjects where Monit Data can help with data-driven information.

A full electricity grid

One of the biggest challenges with the growing number of EVs is congestion on the electricity grid. To address this we need to get a true picture of this congestion – where and when does the demand create bottlenecks. Within the Monit Data Parking Monitor suite, an EV module is available that collects data from charging stations using the OCPI protocol. A clear map display shows the occupancy of the charging infrastructure in a city. This can be analyzed per neighborhood, or down to the individual charging station. Information about charging profiles is also available, for example how much energy has been consumed, and at what times, and at which charging stations. This data-driven information about the actual requirement for energy creates the opportunity to better coordinate supply and demand, for example with solutions such as Smart Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid.

Map display of EV charging point occupancy at neighborhood level. High occupancy rates are visible in the areas shown in red and orange.

Parking garages and EV charging

Another development that poses new challenges is the EV charging infrastructure in parking garages. Many cities are moving parking from the streets to off-street parking garages to create a more livable public space. This raises the question of how many charging stations should be installed for both public and private parking garages to account for the demand by more EVs. But with more charging stations and EVs present in parking garages, this also has implications for fire safety. Knowing how many EVs are actually in a parking garage is thus important information for these issues.

Monit Data therefore conducted a pilot at an active parking garage to provide insight into how many EVs were parked there and at what time. The open and uniform data model of our Parking Monitor allowed us to combine data from various sources and systems to generate this information.

Summary of a Monit Data pilot project. This involved analyzing which types of vehicles (petrol, hybrid, EV) were present in a parking garage. This is compared here with the types of vehicles registered nationally with the RDW (Netherlands Vehicle Authority).

Read the full interview with Peter about these and more challenges of EV growth via this link.

Our team will also be present at Intertraffic 2024 to tell you more about Monit Data’s Parking Monitor, the EV module and our other solutions.

About Monit Data

Monit Data provides parking data analytics services for municipalities and private operators. User-friendly dashboards give clear information on car, EV, and bicycle usage. Use data-driven insights for urban mobility policies and day-to-day operational management.