Electric vehicle charging decisions with travel distance: novel clustering algorithm integrating spatial-temporal charging and trip data

The adoption of electric vehicles (EV) plays a crucial role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. This realization requires a comprehensive comprehension of EV travel distances and charging decisions in different climates to enhance infrastructure and policy optimization. This study proposed that by clustering travel trip and charging characteristics, such as trip distances and battery levels, it would be possible to identify unique behavioral patterns that connecting charging preferences on traveling distance and charging decisions. These patterns could then be used to design and plan customized electric vehicle infrastructure. In this study, we developed a novel clustering methodology known as Novel DEC VAE Clustering Cuckoo Search K-Means (DVAE-CSKM) algorithm with a customized loss function to examine patterns on travel distances and charging decisions for electric and hybrid vehicles (HV) in cold and warm months, respectively. The case study data spans from April 2021 to April 2022 and includes over 328,000 charging events and 95,000 trip logs collected from EV and hybrid vehicle users. In comparison to conventional methods, the DVAE-CSKM algorithm achieved substantial improvements in clustering quality, with silhouette scores increasing by 23.83 % to 39.5 % across vehicle types and seasons. The analysis resolved four distinct charging behavior patterns: Frequent Short-Distance Travelers, Long-Haul Travelers, Range Extenders, and Urban Commuters, each displaying clear seasonal variation. These findings indicate that the development of seasonally adaptive, user-user-oriented charging infrastructure is critical for supporting broader EV adoption and ensuring the long-term sustainability of transportation systems. • Multi-dimensional clustering of integrated spatial, temporal, charge, and travel data for a holistic view of EV/HV behaviors. • Novel deep unsupervised machine learning is used to cluster EV/HV behavior with multi-dimensional seasonal charge–travel data. • Novel algorithm shows up to 39.5% improvement in validation score using a custom loss function based on features' importance. • Distinct clusters identified: frequent short-distance, long-haul, range extenders, and urban commuters with seasonal behaviors. • Clustering results aid strategic charger placement, infrastructure planning, energy management, and EV adoption policies.