Mobile charging stations for electric vehicles — A review

Electric vehicle (EV) penetration is accelerating in an unprecedented way, but the insufficient charging infrastructure to cover all locations hinders the improvement of the EV market. Currently, due to the small EV to internal combustion engine vehicle ratio, installing fixed charging stations (FCSs) at all locations is not financially viable. Lack of available FCSs increases the range anxiety and overall charging time, which are two major barriers to the large-scale adoption of electric cars. As a remedy, mobile charging stations (MCSs) can play a vital role in speeding up the process of moving toward more EV adoption by providing charging services at EV users’ convenient times and locations. This paper aims to disseminate information of papers and technical reports working on MCS, discuss the benefits, analyze the challenges, and finally propose possible research topics on MCS as a flexible method of charging to provide support to FCSs. The study reveals that utilizing MCS services is a cost-effective technology for charging facilities owners to improve the utilization rate of charging equipment and for the power grid to reduce the adverse effects of EV penetration. •A classification of different EV charging methods.•A thorough review of mobile charging technology.•Identifying knowledge gaps, opportunities, and challenges of MCSs.•An illustration of the direction for mobile charging from practical and research perspectives.•An assessment of the MCS role in improving charging availability, range anxiety and charging time.