Download The impact of increasing the number of Electric Vehicles on the

“The impact of increasing the number of Electric Vehicles on the
power and related sectors”
Mohammad Daemi, 1st year EEE student, Cardiff University
A major challenge in the power sector is about to take place since the main Japanese and Asian car
manufacturers have announced that all manufactured cars from 2017 will have only battery powered
engines. Considering the UK`s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by
2050, it is a great opportunity to invest in the power sector to deal with challenges presented by high
demand of electricity.
The major effect of increasing the number of plugged-in Electric Vehicles (EVs) on power systems is
the creation of a significant domestic demand of electricity. This spike can be managed by combined
implication of Demand Side Management (DSM) and Vehicle-to-Grid Technology (V2G) which is
the potential future allowing plugged-in EVs to feed electricity back into the grid as a reverse charge
system(Fig1). It will open an intellectual gate toward the higher efficiency of power system [1].
Fig1: Schematic diagram for V2G and implication of DSM [1]
According to The International Economic Development Council, EVs are being charged in the laterevening, when there is excess generation capacity in the grid. Whereas, peak hours of electricity
demand occur in the early to mid-afternoon, when most commuter vehicles are sitting idle and can
feed power back into the grid [2]. The Royal Academy of Engineering and the UK Department of
Transport have both estimated that if the UK switched to EVs, electricity demand would rise about
16%. It will be a potential to greatly increase the demand for off-peak power from the grid,
consequently, to moderate the growth of the average cost of electricity. Fig2 demonstrates that there
will be no need to increase the system's peak capacity if most charging is off-peak. The trouble arises
when V2G and DSM are not managed properly [3]; hence there will be the probability for high
demand to be transferred to peak load of generation and overload the grid.
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“The impact of increasing the number of Electric Vehicles on the
power and related sectors”
Mohammad Daemi, 1st year EEE student, Cardiff University
Fig2: Load curves for typical grids in the USA [3]
According to National Grid, at the moment, there are around 5,000 active EVs in the UK and it will
rise to 0.9-3.2 million by 2030. It demonstrates the second major challenge which is to analyse the
distribution of the real peak demand on the system to redesign and prepare the grid to deliver the
power to transmission lines. This has implication for Smart Grid and Smart Meter Technology to
create a two-way communication of data related to power usage between suppliers and consumers.
This cycle will be completed by Smart Charging System to let car owners program their cars to be
charged in a certain period of time [4]. For instance, a pilot project exploring integrating EVs to the
smart grid has been begun by IBM, Honda and PG&E, allowing grid operators to manage the charge
rate of all plugged-in EVs. Their research shows that while power plants and transmission lines have
excess capacity, things can get tight when it comes to distributing power to individual geographical
areas and this is especially the case since EVs sales are not evenly distributed [5].
Finally, to allow local networks to estimate how many EVs can be safely connected to their network
at any one time, they need to have access to powerful software provided with appropriate sets of
information. This is where the grid operators may benefit from SCADA which is a system operating
with coded signals over communication channels to provide control of remote equipment. In practice,
engineers from the Fraunhofer Society in Germany are testing new software which works by
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“The impact of increasing the number of Electric Vehicles on the
power and related sectors”
Mohammad Daemi, 1st year EEE student, Cardiff University
modelling a random selection of several thousand possible scenarios in which households charge their
EVs at different time. This “Monte Carlo” method is used because modelling every scenario would
take so long as to be impractical [6].
In conclusion, System Operators and Distribution Systems may invest in Superconductors and DC
Lines to upgrade the efficiency and capacity of grids, split networks to smaller local areas and analyse
the electricity consumption data as well as obtaining an approximate figure of EVs to control the load
on local networks by implication of proper interconnected networks provided with Distributed
Generation (DG) to improve the capacity of local areas instead of upgrading the whole network.
Generators may invest in renewal electricity sources distributed over local areas and car owners
should be involved in Balancing Mechanism such as Bids and Offers to be encouraged to manage
recharging cars in off-peak.
References:
[1] Department of Electronic and Electrical
Engineering University of Strathclyde.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/lowcarbon/publications/H
uang_Strathclyde_paper.pdf
[2] IEDC. Creating the clean energy economy.
http://www.iedconline.org/clientuploads/Downlo
ads/edrp/IEDC_Electric_Vehicle_Industry.pdf
[3] World Nuclear Association. Electricity and
Cars. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/NonPower-NuclearApplications/Transport/Electricity-and-Cars/
[4] Smart grid needed to power UK's electric car
dream.( uk.Reuters.com)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2010/03/24/electriccars-smart-meters-idUKLNE62N00P20100324
Other Sources:
-National Grid.
http://www.nationalgridconnecting.com/journeyof-discovery/
-International Transport Forum.
http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/jtrc/
discussionpapers/dp201202.pdf
-MIT Technology Review.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518066
/could-electric-cars-threaten-the-grid/
-Assessment of the future electricity sector.
http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehic
les/docs/d3_en.pdf
[5] Honda and PG&E testing electric car smart
grid technology (examiner.com)
[6] The Engineer.
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/energy/news/engin
eers-work-to-prevent-electric-vehicle- chargingfrom-overloading-grids/1020196.article
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