Electric vehicle charging infrastructure design: Expertise, methods, and challenges

This review synthesizes the research landscape on electric vehicle charging infrastructure design to identify key methods, challenges, and future directions relevant to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. The analysis reveals that research is dominated by two problems: station location planning and charging technology innovation, which are primarily framed using Optimization Modeling and driven by traffic and geospatial data. A key contribution of this review is the clarification of the methodological hierarchy, from these high-level formulation approaches down to the specific computational techniques (e.g., Mixed-Integer Programming) and executable algorithms (e.g., Genetic Algorithm) used to find solutions. Critically, the review identifies the need for a strategic shift from reactively accommodating demand to proactive planning that uses infrastructure to guide market growth. Future work must resolve the core engineering trade-off between network capacity expansion and technological efficiency and integrate social and regional equity as a formal constraint in system design.