Summary:
The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is a key component of Spain’s strategy for achieving sustainable transportation and energy systems. This paper analyses EV charging behaviour using individual smart meter data from over 20,000 Spanish EV users, offering insights into charging session timing, duration, energy consumption, and power load trends—including variations among regions and tariff structures-.
Our findings show that most charging sessions take place during the nighttime tariff period (1:00 AM to 7:00 AM), when electricity prices are lower, highlighting the effectiveness of time-of-use pricing in shifting demand to off-peak hours. However, this behaviour also leads to a coincident peak in electricity consumption, which could pose challenges as EV adoption increases and may require further attention to avoid grid stress.
Leveraging a large, representative dataset in the Spanish context, the results of this study provide valuable insights for policymakers and energy market stakeholders seeking to optimize EV integration and mitigate the potential impacts of widespread electrification.
Spanish layman's summary:
Este estudio analiza los patrones de carga de vehículos eléctricos utilizando datos de contadores inteligentes de más de 20.000 usuarios en España. La mayoría de las cargas ocurren por la noche en horas valle, reflejando el efecto de los precios horarios, aunque generando preocupación por picos de demanda coincidentes.
English layman's summary:
This study analyses EV charging behaviours using smart meter data from over 20,000 Spanish EV users. Most sessions occur at night during off-peak hours, showing the effect of time-based charges but raising concerns about coincident peak demand.
Keywords: Electric vehicles; Charging Behaviour; Tariffs; Disaggregation; Seasonality
JCR-JIF Impact Factor and WoS quartile: 4,300 - Q2 (2025)
DOI reference:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsr.2025.111853
Published on paper: October 2025.
Published on-line: May 2025.
Citation:
J. Guasch Albareda, M. Ramadan Younis, P. Rodilla, J.P. Chaves, "Analysing the electric vehicle charging behaviour in Spain: Patterns and insights", Electric Power Systems Research, Vol. 247, pp. 111853, October 2025. [Online: May 2025] doi: 10.1016/j.epsr.2025.111853
