Site suitability modeller tool for electric vehicle charging stations by using the integration of hexagonal fuzzy-AHP and GIS

In this rapidly evolving landscape of urban mobility, a strategic deployment of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) holds key in the creation of sustainable transportation systems especially in the era of escalating demand towards the changes to an environmental sustainability. In fact, the uneven distribution of the existing EVCS causes several challenges such as range anxiety for users. These challenges require a strong approach in identifying suitable site. However, current practice shows limitation such as it may be prone to human errors. To address this, an automation tools are created, presenting an innovation methodology integrating Hexagonal Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) with GIS to conduct the site suitability modelling of EVCS. This approach involves five stages considering criteria like Perceived Safety, Accessibility, Public Facilities, and Population Density, based on Malaysian EVCS development standards. Spatial data representing the criteria need to be collected to establish nine criterion maps through data editing, rasterization, and reclassification processes. Weightage of each criterion were determined by using the pairwise-comparison matrix obtained from industrial and academician experts, followed by weighted overlay analysis to identify the suitable sites. However, this process can be tedious and lengthy which brings to the main objective of this study is to develop an automation GIS tool for site suitability modelling by leveraging specified criteria and weights provided by the experts. Ultimately, this tool aims to help in identifying suitable EVCS location with a single button thereby accelerating the deployment of EVCS and supporting sustainable urban transportation