How to integrate users into smart charging – A critical and systematic review

Many countries worldwide have adopted policies to foster the transformation from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles (EV) to reach national climate goals. An uptake of EVs however, irrevocably leads to an increased power demand. To meet this problem, smart charging concepts are on the rise. As smart charging implies an active role of the EV user, studying the user in the smart charging system is vital for a successful market ramp-up. Despite the user's primary role, many studies only include a limited set of user characteristics into their research design. We aim to create transparency on how the user is characterized in current research and on how different disciplines deal with and consider the user in their research. Learning how different research strands deal with the user of smart charging is the main objective of this review.
This systematic review provides an overview of 183 peer-reviewed journal articles from the past 20 years of research on smart charging. We find that the type of data that is included to characterize the user of smart charging is related to the research focus. While technology-centered research topics typically approach the user in terms of mobility and charging behavior, or smart charging preferences, human-centered research retrieves qualitative as well as quantitative data that enables in-depth knowledge about values, norms and perceptions of smart charging. ... mehrFinally, we identified two topics that can be characterized as being integrative, as they create an interface for combining human-centered and technology-centered perspectives in a unique manner.