POWERDOCK: Real-Time EV Slot Booking System

Abstract

The rapid global adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is essential for sustainable transportation, yet it concurrently introduces significant challenges in efficiently managing charging infrastructure, often resulting in user frustration and underutilization of resources. This paper presents POWERDOCK, a novel, real-time slot booking system designed to optimize the experience of EV charging. Our approach leverages a scalable, cloud-native architecture to provide a seamless, user-centric reservation platform. The system allows drivers to accurately locate stations, view real-time slot availability, and pre-book a specific charging window based on essential criteria, including vehicle type, required charger connector, and precise time slot. This core functionality is supported by an efficient scheduling algorithm that mitigates station congestion and minimizes driver waiting times. Furthermore, POWERDOCK integrates secure payment gateways and a real-time notification service to ensure a dependable and fully digital transaction process. The implementation of POWERDOCK demonstrates a significant leap towards enhancing the reliability and user convenience of the EV charging ecosystem, thereby actively supporting the wider adoption of electric mobility.

Introduction

The text discusses the rapid growth of Electric Vehicles (EVs) as part of the global shift toward sustainable transportation and highlights the growing strain this places on EV charging infrastructure. A major barrier to widespread EV adoption is inefficient public charging management, which leads to congestion, long waiting times, uncertainty about charger availability, and increased range anxiety. These issues negatively affect user experience and challenge infrastructure operators in managing peak demand and equitable access.

To address these challenges, the paper introduces POWERDOCK, a real-time EV charging slot booking and management system. POWERDOCK is built on a scalable, cloud-based architecture and uses a smart scheduling algorithm that allocates charging slots based on vehicle type, connector requirements, and preferred time windows. By providing real-time station occupancy data and allowing users to pre-book charging slots, the system significantly reduces congestion, wait times, and inefficient resource use, improving reliability and user convenience while supporting smart grid integration.

The literature review emphasizes the importance of reservation-based, data-driven charging systems that incorporate user behavior modeling, real-time monitoring, adaptive scheduling, grid constraints, and renewable energy integration. Prior studies highlight the need for flexible, fair, and resource-aware charging coordination to balance user demand with grid stability.

The system design integrates behavioral modeling, demand and energy forecasting, optimal station placement, real-time coordination, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) scheduling to create an intelligent charging ecosystem. POWERDOCK’s implementation uses a modern tech stack—React.js for the frontend, Node.js and Express.js for the backend, MongoDB for data management, and secure authentication mechanisms—to deliver a responsive, secure, and scalable platform.

Conclusion

The POWERDOCK Real-Time EV Slot Booking System offers a practical and efficient solution to address the increasing demand for accessible and reliable electric vehicle charging infrastructure. By enabling users to easily locate, book, and manage charging slots through a user-friendly interface integrated with real-time data and secure payment options, the system significantly reduces wait times and optimizes charging station utilization. Its scalable and modular architecture supports smooth operations even during peak demand, while security mechanisms maintain data privacy and user trust. Overall, POWERDOCK contributes to the advancement of sustainable mobility by improving the convenience and efficiency of EV charging, facilitating broader adoption of electric vehicles in urban and semi-urban environments.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Neha Patil, Vijayalaxmi S D. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.