KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF GEOMATICS ENGINEERING

Electrical Vehicle Charging Station Suitable Location Selection

and Analysis with AHP Method Using GIS

Group 4: Project Supervisors

Prabhat Bhusal (027991-20) Mr. Ajay Kumar Thapa

Bibhuti Budhathoki (027993-20) Ms. Pragya Pant

Kartabya Poudel (028021-20)

Isha Yadav (028039-20)

JANUARY 2024
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is possible due to continual support and encouragement from different individuals,
who directly and indirectly helped us. We express our gratitude to each one of them.

We would like to acknowledge and give our warmest thanks to the project supervisors Mr.Ajay
Thapa and Ms.Pragya Pant who guided us throughout. Their guidance and advice surely carried
us through all the stages of writing this project.

We are equally thankful to all our seniors and colleagues who have been supportive to our
enthusiasm and for their valuable suggestions. We acknowledge with thanks to the Department
of Geomatics Engineering, KU for providing us with oppurtunity for this project.

We offer our sincere appreciation for the learning opportunities provided by the faculty. We have
been grateful that this project has been more than a project; it has also helped us to enhance our
working, presenting and team-work skills.

Sincerely,

Prabhat Bhusal

Bibhuti Budhathoki

Kartabya Poudel

Isha Yadav

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ABSTRACT
Suitability analysis of project work is important for proper analysis, conduction and completion
of project in most appropriate and sustainable way. This project develops the suitability analysis
map for electric vehicle charging station in Kathmandu Valley. The data required for the case
study project is extracted from different secondary sources like Openstreet Map, Department of
traffic and so on. The system integrates GIS techniques and AHP method for finding suitable
locations for establishment of the electric vehicle charging stations in Kathmandu Valley.

Electric vehicles arouse interest since they not only contribute economies of countries in the
context of dependency to oil but also support to more livable and sustainable urban areas. The
location selection of electric vehicle charging stations is one of the most vital topics in order to
enhance the use of electric vehicles. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to propose an approach
that integrates Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques and Analytical Hierarchical
Process (AHP) methods for finding suitable locations of the electric vehicle charging stations in
Kathmandu Valley. In this regard, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) are used to calculate
the weights of criteria.

Key Words: Electric vehicle, charging station, GIS, Suitability Analysis

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TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... ii
List of figures ........................................................................................................................................... v
List of tables ........................................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................ vii
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ - 1 -
1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................... - 1 -
1.2 Problem Statement ..................................................................................................................... - 3 -
1.3 Objectives .................................................................................................................................. - 4 -
1.4 Scope of Work ........................................................................................................................... - 4 -
2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... - 5 -
2.1 Adoption Scenario of electric vehicles in Nepal ......................................................................... - 5 -
2.2 Environmental and Sustainable Considerations .......................................................................... - 6 -
2.3 Suitability Analysis .................................................................................................................... - 7 -
2.4 Analytic Hierarchy Process ........................................................................................................ - 7 -
2.5 Decision matrix ......................................................................................................................... - 8 -
3 METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................ - 9 -
3.1 Study area .................................................................................................................................. - 9 -
3.2 Materials Used ......................................................................................................................... - 10 -
3.2.1 Data used .......................................................................................................................... - 10 -
3.2.2 Software used.................................................................................................................... - 10 -
3.3 Study methods and its workflow .............................................................................................. - 11 -
3.3.1 Planning ............................................................................................................................ - 11 -
3.3.2 Literature review ............................................................................................................... - 12 -
3.3.3 Identification of criteria ..................................................................................................... - 12 -
3.3.4 Data collection .................................................................................................................. - 15 -
3.3.5 GIS Analysis ..................................................................................................................... - 16 -
3.3.6 AHP implementation ......................................................................................................... - 17 -
3.3.7 Suitability map .................................................................................................................. - 17 -
3.3.8 Report writing ................................................................................................................... - 17 -
3.4 PROJECT MANAGEMENT.............................................................................................................. - 18 -
3.5 LOGICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................ - 19 -

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4 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................... - 20 -
4.1 Suitability model...................................................................................................................... - 20 -
4.2 Final Suitability Map .............................................................................................................. - 29 -
4.3 Suitability Map with Existing charging stations ........................................................................ - 30 -
5 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. - 31 -
6 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... - 32 -

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List of figures

Figure 1: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (Forbes) .......................................................................... - 1 -

Figure 2: Study Area ........................................................................................................................... - 9 -
Figure 3: Workflow diagram.............................................................................................................. - 11 -
Figure 4: Criteria and subcriteria ....................................................................................................... - 12 -
Figure 5: Suitability Map of Road ..................................................................................................... - 21 -
Figure 6: Suitability Map of Traffic ................................................................................................... - 22 -
Figure 7: Suitability Map of Residential............................................................................................. - 23 -
Figure 8: Suitability Map of Protected Areas ..................................................................................... - 24 -
Figure 9: Suitability Map of Water Bodies ......................................................................................... - 25 -
Figure 10: Suitability Map of POI ...................................................................................................... - 26 -
Figure 11: Suitability Map of Fuel ..................................................................................................... - 27 -
Figure 12: Suitabilty Map of Power Grid ........................................................................................... - 28 -
Figure 13: Final Suitability Map ........................................................................................................ - 29 -
Figure 14: Suitability Map with Existing Charging Stations ............................................................... - 30 -

v
List of tables
Table 1: Data Used ............................................................................................................................ - 10 -
Table 2: Gantt Chart .......................................................................................................................... - 18 -
Table 3 : Logical Framework ............................................................................................................. - 19 -

vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AHP Analytical Hierarchical Process
CS Charging Stations
EV Electric Vehicles
EVCSs Electric vehicle Charging Stations
GIS Geographic Information System
MCDM Multi criteria Decision Making
PCM Pair wise Comparison Matrix
POI Point of Interest
OSM Open Street Map

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background
Citizens often benefit from transportation services to continue their daily life routine properly.
Land transportation is a commonly used transportation option, fuel-powered vehicles affect the
environment and people’s health negatively because they generate some harmful gasses such as
carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and microscopic particles. Due to the negative effects as
well as inadequate resources of nonrenewable energy, the demand for renewable energy
consumption is increasing in almost every field of human activity.
The most accessible alternative source of energy is eco-friendly electrical energy. While seeking
the alternative of traditional fuel-powered vehicles, electric vehicles are preferred which benefits
the environment and diversifies energy security. Many countries are making policies based on
the fact that electric cars will define the future. Additionally, according to Wood McKenzie
experts, sales of electric vehicles are predicted to exceed 45 million annually by 2040, adding
323 million EVs to the world's stock. According to Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association,
there are around 15,000 EVs operating in the country and their sales started rising in the last two
fiscal years following a dramatic rise in the fossil-fuel prices (Kathmandu Post, 2022).

Figure 1: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (Forbes)

Fortunately, Nepal has extraordinary potential for electric mobility due to stable electricity from
hydropower. There is a sharp growth in the adoption of electric vehicles Already in Nepal,
electric vehicles (EV) make up ten percent of all vehicle sales and have incentives. Despite
incentives, it is still difficult to obtain broad public participation in electric mobility. Electric
Vehicles (EVs) are plagued with some drawbacks that act as the major hindrance for people to
accept with open arms. The most pivotal factors to consider are the limited range of battery, and
lack of charging infrastructure. The fact that consumers do not have sufficient access to a
network of efficient charging stations is perceived as one of the main barriers. In fact, the other
key problems linked to the implementation of electric vehicles such as autonomy, price and the
lack of attractiveness of the market are being overcome. Although high-range EVs have recently
been introduced, it is unclear, however, whether they will be able to cover all possible journeys
without long deviations necessary to recharge and what are the real infrastructure needs of these
vehicles.

Therefore, the availability of efficient, convenient and economic EVCSs (Electric Vehicle
Charging Stations) could enhance the EV purchase request of consumers and assist the
development of the sector. Low availability of charging infrastructure hinders EV adoption.
EVCS sitting is the preliminary stage of EVCS construction, and has a significant impact on the
service quality and operation efficiency of EVCSs during their whole life cycle. Therefore, it is
essential to establish a proper framework to determine the optimal sites for EVCSs.

Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is
promising approach to identify suitable locations for EVCS. Geographic Information System
(GIS) is a computer system used to capture, store, check and display data related to the location
of the earth's surface. GIS can display many different types of data on a map. GIS has a powerful
capability to generate, organize, and layout map layers (raster logic) and conduct quantitative
and logic analysis for land suitability processes (Iravani, 2022).

However, GIS environments have no ability to determine the relative weights for the criteria
used. AHP and multi-criteria models provide an objective evaluation for the relative weights of
each fact. AHP, which was developed by Saaty, is currently one of the important techniques for
analyzing land suitability. AHP is categorized under the multi-criteria decision analysis approach

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and is an effective technique that helps planners and decision makers to analyze all data before
arriving at a final decision for future land-use changes. AHP has been integrated with GIS tools
to identify the importance of the criteria used and to calculate weights by using a scale of
importance and the opinion of experts.

Thus, we posit that integrating AHP in a GIS application is beneficial compared to other
approaches and can facilitate decision-making processes. Therefore, our research goal is to
design and develop an AHP-based integrating geospatial data for determining and visualizing
suitable locations for EVCS considering literature-based criteria (Russo, 2015).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the perception of the Nepalese people regarding adoption of EVs? What exactly
are the barriers that create people to hesitate from buying EVs?
2. What are the specific challenges and opportunities for EV charging station placement in
rural areas compared to urban areas?
3. How can we place EV charging stations in urban areas to maximize accessibility and
convenience for EV users?
4. What are the key criteria for determining the suitability of EV charging station locations
in a specific urban area?
5. What factors affect the efficiency and reliability of EV charging stations?
6. How can GIS help in assessing and addressing spatial equity in EV charging station
placement?

1.2 Problem Statement

With the surge in EV ownership in Kathmandu Valley, the current distribution of charging
stations is inadequate. The fear that the vehicle has insufficient range to reach the destination,
referred to as range anxiety, has been shown to be a significant obstacle to market acceptance of
electric vehicles (EV).To accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation, it is crucial to
address this issue by building more charging stations in order to meet the growing demand and
provide EV owners with reliable and convenient charging facilities.

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The construction of EV stations in inappropriate places decreases its usability. This project
addresses the critical need for strategically locating electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) by
employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
based on key factors like traffic flow, proximity to power grids, and compatibility with existing
infrastructure.

1.3 Objectives
The primary objective of this project is:
 To perform suitability analysis to find optimal location for electric vehicle charging
stations in Kathmandu Valley.

The secondary objectives are:

 To obtain a suitability analysis map of each criterion.
 Pairwise Comparison AHP matrix.
 To learn about various analysis tools of GIS software.

1.4 Scope of Work

The aim is to find out suitable location for electric vehicle charging station in Kathmandu Valley
across the 5 municipalities - Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Metropolitan City,
Bhaktapur Municipality, Kirtipur Municipality, and Madhyapur Thimi Municipality. This will
address support sustainable transportation given the valley's rapid urbanization. The scope aims
to promote EV adoption across Kathmandu Valley by installing optimally located, convenient
charging stations across the 5 key municipalities.

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Adoption Scenario of electric vehicles in Nepal

Analyzing the present situation of Nepal, Nepalese people have shifted their interest from normal
vehicles to electric vehicles. The Electric Vehicle Association of Nepal (EVAN) estimates that at
present there are approximately 6,000 electric two-wheelers and 1,000 electric cars in Nepal. The
number of electric vehicles is increasing, and so is the charging station. Different car brands have
started making their car charging station available in Nepal which is very good news. The
government is focusing on the fast installation of EV charging stations in Nepal.

Multiple companies are promoting and selling electric vehicles in Nepal. BYD, Laxmi
Intercontinental Pvt. Ltd is some of the big distributors of EVs in Nepal and they are building
charging stations all over Nepal. The ever-increasing craze has motivated them to increase their
charging stations and they are onto it (Rawal, 2022). In recent times, Nepal has seen a rising
trend in embracing electric vehicles (EVs), which includes electric cars, bikes, scooters, and
three-wheelers. Notably, the adoption of electric two-wheelers like scooters and bikes has been
significant (Growth of EV Charging Stations in Nepal, , 2022).

As of 2022, Nepal has an estimated 25 public EV charging stations installed across the country,
according to data from Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).Most of the current charging points
gather in the Kathmandu valley, and you can find a few stations in places like Pokhara, Chitwan,
Birgunj, and some other big cities. The charging facilities currently available include:

Slow AC Chargers:
These stations require 8-12 hours to offer a complete charge and work best for charging electric
two-wheelers like e-bikes, e-scooters, electric three-wheelers, and similar vehicles overnight.
There are around 20 such slow AC charging points located mostly in urban areas.

Fast DC Chargers:
There are only about 5-6 DC fast charging stations existing in Nepal so far. These high-powered
chargers can provide an 80% charge within 30-60 minutes, which makes them critical for inter-
city travel in electric cars. However, the current availability of DC charging options is quite
limited.

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Dealership Charging Station:
Some EV manufacturers like MG Motor and Hyundai have installed charging stations at their
dealership locations in cities like Kathmandu. But public access to these points is restricted.

Private Charging Points:

A handful of hotels, shopping malls and office buildings have set up charging facilities for their
guests, customers or employees. But such private charging access for the public is still scarce.

2.2 Environmental and Sustainable Considerations

In recent years, electric vehicles (EVs) receive intensive attention due to their environment-
friendly nature and outstanding energy efficiency. The conversion of electrical energy to
mechanical energy by an electric motor is much more efficient than deriving mechanical energy
from fossil fuels in an internal combustion engine. A pure electric powertrain is also able to gain
greater efficiency using regenerative braking. This leads to a much larger ‘tank-to-wheel’
efficiency for an electric vehicle (Shukla, 2011).In the scenario of Nepal , Nepal plans to shift
from light vehicles that run on petroleum products to electric ones by 2031 and announced a
strategic plan to lower fuel imports and the concomitant pollution (The Kathmandu Post,
2023).Air pollution was directly linked to at least 42,100 deaths in Nepal in 2019, the most
recent year for which data is available. A surge in diesel and petrol-run vehicles, along with
growing fossil fuel imports, has worsened the country’s air quality. In 2019, Nepalese consumed
90 percent more fuel than they did five years before, and, currently, around 60 percent of
Kathmandu’s air pollution is related to the transportation sector (Rauniyar, 2022).

Switching to electric vehicles has also been a core target of the Ministry of Forests and
Environment since 2015, when Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contribution was established.
The use of electric vehicles will reduce import of petroleum from India, saving billions from
national treasury, and reduce the pollution generated during logistics of these fuel. In fiscal year
2078/79, Nepal imported petroleum worth NRs. 320 billion (EV Demand, 2022).

The encouragement and promotion of two-wheeler EVs in Nepal can save considerable amount
on oil import. Also, Nepal meets most of its electricity demand through power generated from
renewable and sustainable hydropower plants which makes the overall operation of EVs in Nepal

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sustainable and environment friendly. Nepal does not have any proven fossil fuel reserves;
however, it does have a high potential for hydroelectricity, which could be sufficient to meet the
demand for EVs.

2.3 Suitability Analysis

Site selection or suitability analysis is a type of analysis used in GIS to determine the best place
or site for something. Potential sites used in suitability analysis can include the location of a new
hospital, store or school among many others. When performing site selection analysis users must
set various criteria from which the GIS software can rate the best or ideal sites. Site selection
analysis can be performed with vector or raster data but one of the most widely used types of site
selection, weighted site selection, uses raster data (Briney, 3013).

2.4 Analytic Hierarchy Process

AHP is a method of "measuring through pairwise comparisons and deriving priority scales from
expert assessments" (Russo, Criteria in AHP: a Systematic Review of Literature, 2015).It's one
of the most extensively utilized decision-making tools with many criteria. As it is a simple and
powerful tool,it is employed by decision makers and researchers. This method aims to create a
mechanism for defining priorities and making complex decisions. In reality, the AHP
methodology's hierarchical structure allows it to quantify and synthetize a range of aspects in a
complicated decision-making process in a hierarchical fashion, making it straightforward to put
the pieces together in a whole. To make an informed decision,the decision maker must
understand and describe the problem, the decision's necessity and purpose, the criteria and sub
criteria used to evaluate the alternatives, the alternative actions to take, and the stakeholders and
groups affected. These criteria and sub criteria can be physical or intangible, and there is no
method to assess them as a guide to ranking the alternatives when they are intangible. It is a
difficult task to create priorities for the criteria itself in order to weigh the priorities of the
alternatives and add up all the criteria to acquire (Russo, 2015) the necessary overall ranks of the
alternatives. The major steps to be followed in sequence for AHP are to define the problem and
the type of expertise you're looking for, create a decision-making hierarchy, calculate a
collection of pairwise comparisons, construct matrices, calculate the items' relative weights,
decision-making checks and balances, documentation of the decision (Russo, 2015).

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2.5 Decision matrix
A decision matrix is a matrix which consists of rows and columns that allow the
evaluation of alternatives relative to various decision criteria. Decision
matrix techniques are used to define attributes, weigh them, and appropriately sum the weighted
attributes to give a relative ranking among design alternatives (Chang, 2015).
A PCM is used to compute for relative priorities of criteria or alternatives and are
integral components of widely applied decision-making tools: the AHP. PCM can be prepared by
dividing the ratio by the sum of parameters. The weights of the individual criteria are calculated.
First, a normalized comparison matrix is created where each value in the matrix is divided by the
sum of its column. The weights can be calculated by averaging all the elements in the row (Jalao,
2013).

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3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Study area

Kathmandu Valley is a district in Bagmati Zone, Central Development Region, Nepal at latitude
27°42′2.7684″ North, longitude 85°18′0.5040″ East.
Kathmandu District, Lalitpur District and Bhaktapur District make up the valley, which consists
of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Submetropolitan City, Bhaktapur municipality,
Kirtipur Municipality, and Thimi Municipality.Kathmandu Valley stands at an elevation of 4,500
ft (1,400 m).The Kathmandu Valley is the most developed and the largest urban agglomeration
in Nepal with a population of about 5 million people. The majority of offices and headquarters
are located in the valley, making it the economic hub of Nepal. It is popular with tourists for its
unique architecture, and rich culture which includes the highest number of jatras (festivals) in
Nepal.

Figure 2: Study Area

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3.2 Materials Used
3.2.1 Data used
The data used in this project are-
Table 1: Data Used

Data Source

Road ICIMOD

Traffic flow Department of roads, Nepal

LULC ESRI

DEM USGS Earth Explorer

Population density DIVA-GIS

Power Grid HOT Export Tool

POI HOT Export Tool

3.2.2 Software used

The softwares to be used are-

1. ArcGIS (version 10.8), designed and developed by Environmental Systems Research

Institute (ESRI), Redlands, California, USA was used for GIS-based database creation
and analysis.
2. MS-Office Word
3. MS-Office Excel.

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3.3 Study methods and its workflow
In our project, we carried out various steps to complete the task with required accuracy and
within the estimated time.

Planning

Literature review

Criteria Identification

Data collection

GIS Analysis

AHP Implementation

Suitability Map

Report Writting

Figure 3: Workflow diagram

3.3.1 Planning
The planning phase lays the foundation for the entire project. The project's objectives and
expected outcome were discussed and defined. The study area was chosen keeping in mind the
need for sustainable transportation solutions in developing cities, to address urban pollution,
growing demand and to promote electric vehicle adoption. In our project, planning was done to
obtain the relevant data and to ensure that the project covers the specified area of interest. For

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this, we thoroughly inspected the geographical terrain, available amenity, road network,
economy, etc. of the project area.

3.3.2 Literature review

The literature review was conducted to gain an understanding of the existing research and
debates relevant to a electric vehicle charging station of Kathmandu Valley. Existing research,
studies and articles were reviewed to gather relevant knowledge and insights. The previous
research on EV charging station suitability was explored to find out methodologies, criteria and
best practices.

3.3.3 Identification of criteria

Figure 4: Criteria and subcriteria

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The crucial part of our project was to decide the parameters to be included in our project and the
weightage to be given to each parameter. Proper weightage should be provided for better
location selection. At first, different types of parameters such road, waterbodies, petrol pump,
education and commercial hub were listed. Then, the parameters involved for determination of
suitable location for electric vehicle charging station were finalized. This involves identifying
and defining criteria, such as Accessibility, Environmental impact, Proximity to users, Power
grid, Environmental factors. Each criterion are broken down into relevant sub-criteria to provide
a more detailed evaluation framework.

3.3.3.1 Proximity to roads

Road: The roads that are often used by electric vehicles are critical in order to determine suitable
locations of electric vehicle charging stations. Road data is essential to identify locations that
align with transportation routes and accessibility. The location that has access to roads are
considered suitable.

Traffic Flow - Traffic flow helps in identify high traffic areas and travel patterns enabling
to make strategic plans for placement of charging stations along frequently travelled routes. The
area with high traffic flow is considered suitable while areas with low traffic flow are considered
to be least suitable. The area is considered to be high traffic flow area are if the annual average
daily traffic is more than 50,000.

3.3.3.2 Land use Land cover

Land cover is what covers the surface of the earth and land use describes how the land is used.
Here, in this project Land use considers industrial and residential area whereas Land cover
considers protected areas and water bodies.

3.3.3.2.1 Land Use

Land use helps to identify optimal locations by considering zoning regulations, accessibility
ensuring efficient deployment of charging infrastructure in harmony with existing land use
patterns.

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Residential Area
The charging stations should be accessible to residents’ inorder to increase its usability. The
building of electric vehicle charging stations in location near to residential area is considered
suitable.

3.3.3.2.2 Land Cover

Land cover is the physical material at the surface of Earth. Here Land cover includes Water bdies
and Protected areas. These area are important and is necessary to consider in point of
environmental aspect.

Water bodies: It is essential to build EV charging stations away from areas having water bodies.
They should not be placed in locations that are prone to flood zones. The charging stations are
considered to be unsuitable near to the areas having water bodies.

Protected Areas: Protected Areas need to considered while placing a EV charging station to
avoid placing charging infrastructure within ecologically sensitive or legally restricted regions.
Protected areas are used as an environmental factor in this project when finding suitable
locations of electric vehicle charging stations. The charging stations should be placed away from
protected areas.

3.3.3.3 Proximity to users

Proximity to users can be described as the distance from the users of electric vehicle charging
stations. The necessity for charging stations is greater in areas where electric vehicles are
frequently used. For this reason, places with frequent vehicle flow can be used as a factor to
determine these regions. POI is crucial for EV charging stations because it helps to determine the
demand for charging infrastructures in specific areas, thus helping to maximize the accessibility
and utilization of EV charging stations.

Proximity to point of interest (POI)

This includes educational and medical facilities, supermarket, tourism areas, petrol pumps,
commercial areas like restaurant, cafes etc. These criteria’s help to identify convenient locations

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that cater to diverse user needs. The EV charging station should be build within area consisting
of these criteria.

Fuel Station
The petrol stations are one of the first locations that come to mind for electric vehicle charging
stations. Yet the station requirements are different for internal combustion vehicles as compared
to electric vehicles. Nevertheless, the existing petrol stations can be considered as suitable
locations for electric vehicle charging stations because these areas are located according to the
current traffic network. If the location is close to petrol stations, it will be more suitable.

3.3.3.4 Power Grid

Proximity to the transformer station is considerd. The EV charging station close to the power
grid ensures adequate electrical capacity and minimizes infrastructure costs when planning the
placement of charging stations.

3.3.4 Data collection

This phase comprises identifying the data, finding sources, gathering, cleaning, organizing, and
securely storing it. The collected data will be the foundation for the analysis and decision-
making process when selecting suitable locations for electric vehicle charging stations.
The required data relevant to selected criteria will be gathered through different sources. All the
data were obtained from the secondary sources.

Data Processing and Validation: The data preprocessing phase aims to find the easiest way to
rectify quality issues, such as eliminating bad data, filling in missing data or otherwise ensuring
the raw data is suitable. There are several different tools and methods used for preprocessing data
like sampling which selects a representative subset from a large population of data,
transformation which manipulates raw data to produce a single input, denoising, which removes
noise from data. Data validation is the process of checking if your data conforms to the
predefined rules and standards. The methods for validating and verifying GIS data: Topology
Checks, Coordinate Precision, Network Analysis, Buffer Analysis.

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3.3.5 GIS Analysis
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) play a central role in the analysis phase. Collected data
will be integrated into a spatial database, combining geographic, demographic, and
environmental layers. GIS tools will be used to assess criteria like Accessibility, Environmental
impact, Proximity to users and Power grid. The data will be obtained by shape files from Open
Sources and added into the same geographic coordinate system. Then the values of each criterion
will be processed and obtained by ArcGIS software. The breakdown of GIS Analysis process are
Clipping
The first process was to clip the data for analysis. The data of road, traffic, population density,
POI, Fuel, Power grid, Industrial Area, Residential Area, Water bodies, road were clipped using
Clip tool in GIS. The below presented screenshot shows the example of clip tool.
Projection
Geographical data was converted into a consistent coordinate system. It helps to ensure that the
obtained map accurately represents the real-world locations, facilitating meaningful comparisons
and analyses across different datasets.

Euclidean Distance
Euclidean distance measures straight line distances between features. This is crucial in suitability
mapping, when accessing factors like proximity to resources. It provides a realistic
representation of spatial relation.
Resample
Resampling was done as the raster data used were of different resolutions. By adjusting the pixel
size, resampling helped to standardize the data, ensuring a uniform resolution. This step is
crucial for compatibility, particularly when combining multiple datasets in our analysis.

Reclassify
Reclassification is fundamental in creating a suitability map, as it enables the classification of
variables into different levels of suitability, providing a clear basis for decision-making. From
different literature review, we obtained the most suitable to unsuitable values of different criteria.

Weighted Overlay

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It is a tool for analyzing multiple datasets to make decisions about site selection. Multiple criteria
are combined to create a single output. Then weight is assigned to each input raster. The tool
reclassifies the values in each input raster to a common evaluation scale. After reclassification
the tool multiplies the reclassified cell values of each input raster by its assigned weight. It then
adds those weighted values for each cell to create a new output raster. The resulting output raster
represents a suitability analysis, where the higher values indicate greater suitability.

3.3.6 AHP implementation

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used for multi-criteria decision-making. The
hierarchical structure of criteria and sub-criteria, prioritizing their importance will be created.
The criteria used within the scope of the study will be reclassified by scoring from 1 to 5
according to their suitability for the installation of electric charging stations. 5 represent the
highest suitable area and 1 represents the lowest suitable area. Areas with a score of 0 within the
scope of the study represent areas that are unsuitable for analysis of station installation.
To compute final weights for criteria and sub-criteria, AHP calculator will be used. For AHP
implementation, the questionnaire was distributed to the experts.

3.3.7 Suitability map

Suitability map will be generated after combining the result from GIS and AHP. GIS-derived
spatial analysis results with AHP-calculated criteria weights will be combined to identify suitable
EV charging station locations. The locations will be categorized into categories (e.g., highly
suitable, moderately suitable, not suitable) based on established criteria and weights.

3.3.8 Report writing

Finally, research findings and outcomes will be compiled into a comprehensive report consisting
of the entire research process, from data collection to suitability map generation, suitability map,
criteria weights, and any insights or patterns discovered during the analysis., potential areas for
future research or improvements to the methodology.

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3.4 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Table 2: Gantt Chart

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3.5 LOGICAL FRAMEWORK

Table 3 : Logical Framework

Activities Objective Risk Remedy

Planning To clearly understand Lack of clarity in Conduct thorough
the project's objectives projectobjectives. research and
and outcomes discussions.
Literature review Limited access to Utilize library or
To gather relevant literature online
relevant resources.
knowledge and
insights.
Identification of Provide a detailed Inappropriate Criteria Clearly define and
criteria and unambiguous Selection document sub-criteria
framework for the for each main
criterion, taking into
account objectives.
Data Collection To ensure high- Data inaccuracy Implement data
quality data for or validation
analysis incompleteness processes, cross-
checking
Pre-Processing and To rectify quality Data Integrity Quality control by
Validation issue various methods.

GIS Analysis For the accurate Technical Challenges Engage with a

spatial analysis and inGIS Analysis supervisor to guide
data visualization. the process.
AHP implementation Complex AHP Engage with
To accurately Calculations supervisors to guide
determine criteria the process.
and sub-criteria
weights
Suitability Map Complex AHP Engage with
To accurately Calculations supervisors to guide
determine criteria the process.
and sub-criteria
weights
Misinterpretation Use clear and concise
Report Writing To ensure everyone offindings. language and employ
can easily understand visual aids to
and utilize the communicate findings
researchresults. effectively.

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4 RESULTS

One of the objectives of our project was Site Selection for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
which was successfully completed. Different processes like buffering, rasterization and
reclassifying were done to obtain the final output. The final suitable locations are categorized
into five categories, namely unsuitable, least suitable, moderate suitable, most suitable and
extreme suitable. In the figure below, green color represents the extreme suitable locations, light
green represents most suitable locations, yellow color represents moderate suitable locations,
orange represents least suitable locations and red represents unsuitable locations for EV charging
stations.

4.1 Suitability model

Different factors which were used to determine the most suitable sites for EV charging station.
The factors are rated on the scale of 1-5 where 5 represent the most suitable and 1 represent the
least suitable.

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4.1.1 Road Suitability Map

EVs need stations that are readily accessible from major roads or highways. Placing stations
along the route allows people to conveniently charge their batteries. Hence, the road was given
highest priority.

Figure 5: Suitability Map of Road

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4.1.2 Traffic Flow Suitability Map

Traffic areas like highways, major roads, and busy parking lots are readily accessible to a large
number of drivers. Placing stations along frequently used routes allows drivers to
charge batteries during their trips without deviating from their intended route. Hence, traffic flow
areas are considered high priority.

Figure 6: Suitability Map of Traffic

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4.1.3 Residential Suitability Map

Placing stations close to homes allows residents to charge their EVs easily without needing to
travel significant distances. Hence, placement of EVCSs is preferred near residential areas.

Figure 7: Suitability Map of Residential

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4.1.4 Protected area suitability Map

The presence of charging stations in protected areas can lead to destruction of protected areas,
increased human activity which negatively impacts endangered species. Hence EVCSs are
preferably placed far from protected areas.

Figure 8: Suitability Map of Protected Areas

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4.1.5 Water bodies Suitability Map

Electric Vehicle Charging stations are preferred away from water bodies .Water conducts
electricity very well, and the presence of even a small amount of water near the charging station
could increase the risk of electric shock for people or animals in contact with both the water and
the electrical equipment. Hence, charging station should be away from waterbodies.

Figure 9: Suitability Map of Water Bodies

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4.1.6 Point of interest Suitability Map

Placing stations near POIs creates a wider and more accessible charging network. Hence, the
charging stations are considered suitable when its placed near POI as it increases its usability.

Figure 10: Suitability Map of POI

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4.1.7 Fuel Station Suitability Map

Fuel stations are usually established on locations with easy access from roads, parking space and
also considering the traffic flow. Placing EVCSs around there makes it construction cost
relatively low.

Figure 11: Suitability Map of Fuel

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4.1.8 Power Grid Suitability Map

Placing stations close to power grid connection points minimizes transmission losses and
reduced the infrastructure cost. Hence, EVCSs are preferably placed near power grids

Figure 12: Suitabilty Map of Power Grid

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4.2 Final Suitability Map
The obtained final map for EV charging station after suitability analysis using analytic hierarchy
process is in WGS84 projected coordinate system, which is shown below. The green color
represents the extremely suitable area while the light green color shows the most suitable area.
The yellow color shows the least suitable and red color shows the unsuitable area for locating the
electric vehicle charging station in Kathmandu Valley.

Figure 13: Final Suitability Map

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4.3 Suitability Map with Existing charging stations

The analyzed suitability map with existing EVCSs shows zones exhibiting significant
discrepancy between existing charging stations coverage and projected EV demand. The Existing
Charging station of EV are located in the suitable regions of our suitability.

Figure 14: Suitability Map with Existing Charging Stations

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5 CONCLUSION
By considering factors such as Proximity to road and traffic flow, Land Use Land Cover
(LULC), Proximity to user (POI) and Power Grid, we studied and developed a GIS-based AHP
model to determine optimal locations for establishing electric vehicle charging stations in the
Kathmandu valley. Every factor were given a certain weightage which results to a map
indicating the most favorable locations for setting up charging stations to enable the adoption of
electric vehicles. By carefully navigating these factors, the transition to electric mobility can be
accelerated, contributing to a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable future. This work will not
only address current challenges like range anxiety but also pave the way for a seamless and
convenient electric vehicle ownership experience.

Limitations of this study relate to the implementation stage, which can use the output of this
methodology and considers constraints regarding the exact number of charger points in each
location, access to the site, and how the needs of other modes of transportation can be satisfied.
Those modes of transportation may include electrified autonomous vehicles, shared vehicles,
public transit, and non-motorized modes.

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6 REFERENCES

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Briney. (3013). Overview of Weighted Site Selection and Suitability Analysis. Retrieved from
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Rauniyar. (2022, june 09). Retrieved from Nepal’s Big EV Bet. Retrieved from
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Shukla. (2011). Retrieved from https://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx-
455qlt3d2q))/reference/referencespapers.aspx?referenceid=3027840

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articles from Nepal

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ANNEX

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