Assessing Energy, Economic, and Environmental Aspects of Electric Vehicle Charging Station for Three-Wheelers

The energy crisis and extreme weather conditions are the growing concerns of decision makers and policymakers. Many sectors heavily depend on energy, including buildings, industries, transportation, and agriculture. Among them, the transportation sector has gained importance in recent years to reduce energy consumption and emissions from the transportation sector by enhancing Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) shares in the energy mix with the assistance of researchers and policymakers. Researchers found a great solution, such as Electric Vehicles (EVs), to reduce dependency on fossil fuel-powered vehicles. However, developing nations like Bangladesh face challenges in accommodating EVs because of inadequate infrastructure for charging, high expenses associated with charging commercial lines, and lack of awareness. Also, most of the Charging Station (CS) is powered by the primary grid, which has emissions as the energy mix of Bangladesh has a high portion from fossil fuels. Therefore, this research's primary focus on constructing an energy system for CS's and conducting a techno-economic feasibility study in Bangladesh. HOMER software is used as a simulation tool to assess the viability of an Electric Three-Wheeler (E3W) charging station in North Halishahar, Chattogram, Bangladesh. RESs (solar PV, wind energy, etc.) are employed to generate electricity and charge Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) for this work. A cost-benefit analysis is also conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility of the charging station. The most optimized system (PV-Wind Turbine (WT)-Inverter-Grid) produces electricity at a cheaper cost of $0.0717 and provides a sustainable solution for different on-grid and off-grid scenarios. The technology produces fewer Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) than conventional fossil fuel powered CSs, with a 23.3% share of RE.