Abstract
The significant rise of electric vehicles in urban areas calls for research on smart charging
to promote electric mobility. Existing research is fragmented, with inconsistent findings,
focusing on single aspects of smart charging, such as challenges, charging technologies,
and sustainability concerns. Thus, a bibliometric analysis was conducted to identify the
key themes and propose future research agendas on smart charging for electric mobility
in urban areas, to guide policy formulation and promote widespread uptake of electric
vehicles. A total of 201 publications covering the period 2005 to 2025 were extracted from
the Scopus database; the first was published in 2011 and numbers peaked in 2024, with
39 publications. The topic is young, with an average age per publication of 4.17 years, with
China as the top-ranked country, with 97 publications. Research on smart charging for
e-mobility in urban areas focuses on four key themes: smart charging technologies and
optimisation strategies, grid integration and vehicle-to-grid systems, renewable energy and
environmental sustainability, and urban mobility systems and infrastructure development.
Despite their importance, real-world testing and smarter integration with cities and grids
remain largely underexplored, especially in developing countries. Future research should
focus on large-scale vehicle-to-grid integration, user behaviour analysis, and coordinated
planning of smart charging with urban transport and policy frameworks.