Impact of Uncoordinated Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging on Residential Power Demand
3/6/2018
Electrification of transport offers opportunities to increase energy security, reduce carbon emissions, and improve local air quality. Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are creating new connections between the transportation and electric sectors, and PEV charging will create opportunities and challenges in a system of growing complexity. Here, I use highly resolved models of residential power demand and PEV use to assess the impact of uncoordinated in-home PEV charging on residential power demand. While the increase in aggregate demand might be minimal even for high levels of PEV adoption, uncoordinated PEV charging could significantly change the shape of the aggregate residential demand, with impacts for electricity infrastructure, even at low adoption levels. Clustering effects in vehicle adoption at the local level might lead to high PEV concentrations even if overall adoption remains low, significantly increasing peak demand and requiring upgrades to the electricity distribution infrastructure. This effect is exacerbated when adopting higher in-home power charging.
Authors: Muratori, M.
Notes:
This copyrighted publication can be downloaded from the Nature Energy website.
Charging Electric Vehicles in Smart Cities: An EVI-Pro Analysis of Columbus, Ohio
2/7/2018
With the support of the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) worked with the City of Columbus, Ohio, to develop a plan for the expansion of the region's network of charging stations to support increased adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in the local market. NREL's Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection (EVI-Pro) model was used to generate scenarios of regional charging infrastructure to support consumer PEV adoption. Results indicate that approximately 400 Level 2 plugs at multi-unit dwellings and 350 Level 2 plugs at non-residential locations are required to support Columbus' primary PEV goal of 5,300 PEVs on the road by the end of 2019. This analysis finds that while consumer demand for fast charging is expected to remain low (due to modest anticipated adoption of short-range battery electric vehicles), a minimum level of fast charging coverage across the city is required to ease consumer range anxiety concerns by providing a safety net for unexpected charging events. Sensitivity analyses around some key assumptions have also been performed; of these, consumer preference for PHEV versus BEV and for their electric driving range, ambient conditions, and availability of residential charging at multi-unit dwellings were identified as key determinants of the non-residential PEV charging infrastructure required to support PEV adoption. The results discussed in this report can be leveraged by similar U.S. cities as part of a strategy to accelerate PEV adoption in the light-duty vehicle market.
Authors: Wood, E.; Rames, C.; Muratori, M.; Raghavan, S.; Young, S.
New EVSE Analytical Tools/Models: Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection Tool (EVI-Pro)
1/29/2018
This presentation addresses the fundamental question of how much charging infrastructure is needed in the United States to support PEVs. It complements ongoing EVSE initiatives by providing a comprehensive analysis of national PEV charging infrastructure requirements. The result is a quantitative estimate for a U.S. network of non-residential (public and workplace) EVSE that would be needed to support broader PEV adoption. The analysis provides guidance to public and private stakeholders who are seeking to provide nationwide charging coverage, improve the EVSE business case by maximizing station utilization, and promote effective use of private/public infrastructure investments.
Authors: Wood, E.; Rames, C. Muratori, M.
Impacts of Electrification of Light-Duty Vehicles in the United States, 2010-2017
1/25/2018
Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are among the fastest growing drivetrains in the United States and worldwide. Understanding the aggregate impact of PEVs is important when exploring electricity use and petroleum consumption. This report examines the sales of PEVs in the United States from 2010 to 2017, exploring vehicle sales, electricity consumption, petroleum reduction, and battery production.
Authors: Gohlke, D.; Zhou, Y.
Electric Vehicle Charger Selection Guide
1/11/2018
The goal of this guide is to help site hosts and others learn about, evaluate, and compare the features of EV charging equipment to assist them in selecting a charger for their application. Additionally, this guide provides an overview of electric vehicle charger equipment, how it works, and considerations when making a purchase.
Navigation API Route Fuel Saving Opportunity Assessment on Large-Scale Real-World Travel Data for Conventional Vehicles and Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Preprint
12/22/2017
The green routing strategy instructing a vehicle to select a fuel-efficient route benefits the current transportation system with fuel-saving opportunities. This paper introduces a navigation API route fuel-saving evaluation framework for estimating fuel advantages of alternative API routes based on large-scale, real-world travel data for conventional vehicles (CVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The navigation APIs, such Google Directions API, integrate traffic conditions and provide feasible alternative routes for origin-destination pairs. This paper develops two link-based fuel-consumption models stratified by link-level speed, road grade, and functional class (local/non-local), one for CVs and the other for HEVs. The link-based fuel-consumption models are built by assigning travel from a large number of GPS driving traces to the links in TomTom MultiNet as the underlying road network layer and road grade data from a U.S. Geological Survey elevation data set. Fuel consumption on a link is calculated by the proposed fuel consumption model. This paper envisions two kinds of applications: 1) identifying alternate routes that save fuel, and 2) quantifying the potential fuel savings for large amounts of travel. An experiment based on a large-scale California Household Travel Survey GPS trajectory data set is conducted. The fuel consumption and savings of CVs and HEVs are investigated. At the same time, the trade-off between fuel saving and time saving for choosing different routes is also examined for both powertrains.
Authors: Zhu, L.; Holden, J.; Gonder, J.
Electric Ground Support Equipment at Airports
12/12/2017
Airport ground support equipment (GSE) is used to service airplanes between flights. Services include refueling, towing airplanes or luggage/freight carts, loading luggage/freight, transporting passengers, loading potable water, removing sewage, loading food, de-icing airplanes, and fire-fighting. Deploying new GSE technologies is a promising opportunity in part because the purchasers are generally large, technologically sophisticated airlines, contractors, or airports with centralized procurement and maintenance departments. Airlines could particularly benefit from fuel diversification since they are highly exposed to petroleum price volatility. GSE can be particularly well-suited for electrification because it benefits from low-end torque and has frequent idle time and short required ranges.
Authors: Johnson, C.
Overcoming Barriers to Electric Vehicle Charging in Multi-unit Dwellings: A Westside Cities Case Study
12/1/2017
The purpose of this case study is to explore barriers to plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) adoption for residents of multi-unit dwellings (MUDs) within the Westside Cities subregion of Los Angeles County and then identify MUDs within the study region that may exhibit high PEV demand and demand for low-cost electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) installation. This report also reviews the costs associated with EVSE installation at MUD sites, which are highly variable across properties. The report closes with a discussion of policy tools for scaling up charging infrastructure at MUD sites across the Westside Cities subregion.
Utility Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Key Regulatory Considerations
11/13/2017
The report provides an overview of the accelerating electrification of the transportation sector and explores the role of state utility regulators in evaluating potential investments by electric utilities in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging infrastructure. The report identifies key considerations for regulators, including the amount of charging infrastructure needed to support PEVs, ways that regulators can help ensure equitable access to charging infrastructure, and opportunities to maximize the benefits of utility investment in charging infrastructure.
Authors: Allen, P.; Van Horn, G.; Goetz, M.; Bradbury, J.; Zyla, K.
The Barriers to Acceptance of Plug-in Electric Vehicles: 2017 Update
11/9/2017
Vehicle manufacturers, government agencies, universities, private researchers, and organizations worldwide are pursuing advanced vehicle technologies that aim to reduce the consumption of petroleum in the forms of gasoline and diesel. Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are one such technology. This report, an update to the previous version published in December 2016, details findings from a study in February 2017 of broad American public sentiments toward issues that surround PEVs. This report is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office in alignment with its mission to develop and deploy these technologies to improve energy security, enhance mobility flexibility, reduce transportation costs, and increase environmental sustainability.
Authors: Singer, M.
What Fleets Need to Know About Alternative Fuel Vehicle Conversions, Retrofits, and Repowers
10/17/2017
Many fleet managers have opted to incorporate alternative fuels and advanced vehicles into their lineup. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) offer a variety of choices, and there are additional options offered by aftermarket companies. There are also a myriad of ways that existing vehicles can be modified to utilize alternative fuels and other advanced technologies. Vehicle conversions and retrofit packages, along with engine repower options, can offer an ideal way to lower vehicle operating costs. This can result in long term return on investment, in addition to helping fleet managers achieve emissions and environmental goals. This report summarizes the various factors to consider when pursuing a conversion, retrofit, or repower option.
Authors: Kelly, K.; Gonzales, J.
Enabling Fast Charging - A Battery Technology Gap Assessment
10/13/2017
The battery technology literature is reviewed, with an emphasis on key elements that limit extreme fast charging. Key gaps in existing elements of the technology are presented as well as developmental needs. Among these needs are advanced models and methods to detect and prevent lithium plating; new positive-electrode materials which are less prone to stress-induced failure; better electrode designs to accommodate very rapid diffusion in and out of the electrode; measure temperature distributions during fast charge to enable/validate models; and develop thermal management and pack designs to accommodate the higher operating voltage.
Authors: Ahmed, S.; Bloom, I.; Jansen, A.N.; Tanim, T.; Dufek, E.J.; Pesaran, A.; Burnham, A.; Carlson, R.B.; Dias, F.; Hardy, K.; Keyser, M.; Kreuzer, C.; Markel, A.; Meintz, A.; Michelbacher, C.; Mohanpurkar, M.; Nelson, P.A.; Robertson, D.C.; Scoffield, D.; Shirk, M.; Stephens, T.; Vijayagopal, R.; Zhang. J.
Notes: This Journal of Power Sources article (Vol. 367 (2017): pp. 250-262) is copyrighted by Elsevier B.V. and only available by accessing it through Science Direct.
Enabling Fast Charging - Introduction and Overview
10/13/2017
Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), with guidance from VTO, initiated this study to understand the technical, cost, infrastructure, and implementation barriers associated with high rate charging up to 350 kW.
Authors: Michelbacher, C.; Ahmed, S.; Bloom, I.; Burnham. A.; Carlson, B.; Dias, F.; Dufek, E.J.; Jansen, A.N.; Keyser, M.; Markel, A.; Meintz, A. Mohanpurkar, M.; Pesaran, A.; Scoffield, D.; Shirk, M.; Stephens, T.; Tanim, T.; Vijayagopal, R.; Zhang, J.
Notes: This Journal of Power Sources article (Vol. 367 (2017): pp. 214-215) is copyrighted by Elsevier B.V. and only available by accessing it through Science Direct.
Enabling Fast Charging - Battery Thermal Considerations
10/11/2017
Battery thermal barriers are reviewed with regards to extreme fast charging. Present-day thermal management systems for battery electric vehicles are inadequate in limiting the maximum temperature rise of the battery during extreme fast charging. If the battery thermal management system is not designed correctly, the temperature of the cells could reach abuse temperatures and potentially send the cells into thermal runaway. Furthermore, the cell and battery interconnect design needs to be improved to meet the lifetime expectations of the consumer. Each of these aspects is explored and addressed as well as outlining where the heat is generated in a cell, the efficiencies of power and energy cells, and what type of battery thermal management solutions are available in today's market. Thermal management is not a limiting condition with regard to extreme fast charging, but many factors need to be addressed especially for future high specific energy density cells to meet U.S. Department of Energy cost and volume goals.
Authors: Keyser, M.; Pesaran, A.; Li, Q.; Santhanagopalan, S.; Smith, K.; Wood, E.; Ahmed, S.; Bloom, I.; Dufek, E.; Shirk, M.; Meintz, A.; Kreuzer, C.; Michelbacher, C.; Burnham, A.; Stephens, T.; Francfort, J.; Carlson, B.; Zhang, J.; Vijayagopal, R.; Hardy, K.; Dias, F.; Mohanpurkar, M.; Scoffield, D. Jansen, A.N.; Tanim, T.; Anthony Markel. A.
Notes: This Journal of Power Sources article (Vol. 367 (2017): pp. 228-236) is copyrighted by Elsevier B.V. and only available by accessing it through Science Direct.
Enabling Fast Charging - Vehicle Considerations
10/11/2017
To achieve a successful increase in the plug-in battery electric vehicle (BEV) market, it is anticipated that a significant improvement in battery performance is required to increase the range that BEVs can travel and the rate at which they can be recharged. While the range that BEVs can travel on a single recharge is improving, the recharge rate is still much slower than the refueling rate of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. To achieve comparable recharge times, we explore the vehicle considerations of charge rates of at least 400 kW. Faster recharge is expected to significantly mitigate the perceived deficiencies for long-distance transportation, to provide alternative charging in densely populated areas where overnight charging at home may not be possible, and to reduce range anxiety for travel within a city when unplanned charging may be required. This substantial increase in charging rate is expected to create technical issues in the design of the battery system and the vehicle's electrical architecture that must be resolved. This work focuses on vehicle system design and total recharge time to meet the goals of implementing improved charge rates and the impacts of these expected increases on system voltage and vehicle components.
Authors: Meintz, A.; Zhang, J.; Vijayagopal, R.; Kreutzer, C.; Ahmed, S.; Bloom, I.; Burnham, A.; Carlson, R.B.; Dias, F.; Dufek, E.J.; Francfort, J.; Hardy, K.; Jansen, A.N.; Keyser, M.; Markel, A.; Michelbacher, C.; Mohanpurkar, M.; Pesaran, A.; Scoffield, D.; Shirk, M.; Stephens, T.; Tanim, T.
Notes: This Journal of Power Sources article (Vol. 367 (2017): pp. 216-227) is copyrighted by Elsevier B.V. and only available by accessing it through Science Direct.