Foresight Analysis of Power Demand Due to Plug-in Electric Vehicles

The increased adoption of electric propulsion in road transport is viewed as a potential solution to the concerns over increasing environmental pollution, and energy security. The technology advances in power electronics and energy storage technologies promises to bring plug-in electric vehicles (both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) into the commercial domain. Many vehicle manufacturers have planned to introduce their vehicles in the market within the next 3 years. However, charging of plug-in electric vehicles can potentially increase peak power demand on power distribution network, and may have impact on various grid assets including thermal loading, voltage, unbalance, losses etc. In order to estimate the potential impacts, we must estimate the additional power demands and its temporal variations due to charging of plug-in electric vehicles. A scenario-based analysis of the impact on the electric power grid has been taken, with Delhi as a case example case. It includes an estimation of the projected growth in number of vehicles, share of battery operated and plug-in hybrid vehicles among the various modes of transport. The impact on the electric power demand will depend significantly on the charging pattern of the vehicles. Both the options of charging from normal (household) ac power outlets, and the dedicated fast charging stations have been considered. It is desirable that charging of vehicles happen in such a way that the effects on the peak demand on the electric power grid is minimized. Since the use of off-peak power for charging of electric vehicles helps in minimizing the impact on the grid, management of vehicle charging will assume significance as level of penetration increases. New concepts like smart charging may gain focus in such context.