Validating a data-driven site selection model against real-world charging station usage in the Paris suburbs.
The Mob-Energy research paper (Music & Girard, 2023) argues that many charging stations fail not because of low EV demand, but because of operational traps.
Many charging stations fail not because nobody drives an electric vehicle nearby, but because the station is invisible, the parking behavior doesn’t match the charging speed, or drivers simply prefer to charge at home.
Music & Girard, Mob-Energy Operational Analysis, 2023We measured how strongly each factor predicts real-world station usage. Higher values mean the factor is a better predictor.
We collected live availability data from the French government’s open data API (QualiCharge/IRVE) for every charging station in the Saint-Denis zone over several weeks, tracking when each charger was occupied vs. free.
We compared our model’s location ratings against actual usage patterns. The core question: do stations we rate highly actually get used more? We ranked all 213 stations by both our predicted score and their real occupancy.
Stations rated in the top 25% by our model have measurably higher real-world usage than those rated in the bottom 25%. The model’s rankings match reality — better-rated locations are genuinely busier.
Every station falls into one of four categories based on how our model rated it versus how much it’s actually used.
High score, high usage.
Model confirmed — good site.
High score, low usage.
Model over-predicted.
Low score, high usage.
Model missed this one.
Low score, low usage.
Model confirmed — poor site.
Usage of highway-speed chargers is driven by navigation apps and corridor effects, not local demographics. We need a different modelling approach for these.
Validated in Saint-Denis, promising in Valenciennes. Dense inner-Paris suburbs (Montreuil, Créteil) show different patterns we haven’t yet captured.
The model identifies better and worse locations, but it ranks — it doesn’t forecast exact utilization rates. It’s a compass, not a GPS.
Follow along interactively — open the app to explore the map, view station ratings, and overlay data layers for the Saint-Denis zone.
We have a data-driven method to evaluate charging station locations, tested against real usage data from over 200 stations. It doesn’t replace on-the-ground assessment, but it narrows the search — instead of evaluating 50 potential locations, we can identify which 15 are worth the site visit.