The impact of operator time-of-use electricity pricing strategy intensity on charging station utilization

Improving the utilization rate of public charging facilities is crucial for alleviating the shortage of charging pile resources. Time-of-use (TOU) electricity pricing has been implemented by the government as a potentially effective policy tool. However, this pricing signal is not fully passed on to consumers by charging station operators, resulting in diverse end-user TOU charging strategies. Moreover, there is still a lack of empirical studies using actual operational data to examine whether the current TOU pricing positively affects charging station equipment utilization. This study fills this research gap by utilizing real-time operational status records from 5,073 charging piles in a typical Chinese city. The study finds that a greater intensity in implementing time-of-use pricing strategies more effectively improves the overall equipment utilization of charging stations, and this effect is more significant for stations that already have a high utilization rate. Equipment utilization rate is influenced by multiple factors: the average electricity price and the service fee ratio have negative effects, while ratings, location within the community and the number of alternating current piles show significant positive influences. Mechanism analysis further reveals that the positive effect of this strategy is more significant under the scenarios that stations operated by private enterprises, those equipped with immediate service facilities like vending machines, and on weekdays; whereas the effect is weaker in stations operated by state-owned enterprises or those located within residential communities. Based on these findings, it is recommended to effectively improve the operational efficiency of charging infrastructure by encouraging the installation of instant service facilities at charging stations, and implementing differentiated operational strategies for stations operated by state-owned enterprises and stations locatied in community.