Transmission Grid Friendly Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging

Transmission Grid Friendly Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging

Exploring the reliability impacts of a wide scale adoption of plug-in electric vehicles on the transmission system

Background and Motivation

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) represent a rapidly growing new type of load that transmission (and distribution) systems must be prepared to serve. Whether transmission system planners find the behavior of PEVs to be grid friendly or grid unfriendly will have direct implications for future transmission investments and operating procedures.

This image shows grid friendly and grid unfriendly electric vehicle charging phases

The research team found that when they are charging PEVs can be programmed to behave during voltage dips caused by transmission faults in a way that is both friendly to the grid and causes no significant inconvenience to the operation of the vehicles. Recommended voltage thresholds and timings for such grid friendly behaviors were then identified.

Objective

This work is intended to inform transmission system planners of the potential implications, positive and negative, of enhanced transportation electrification, and also manufacturers of PEVs of charging behaviors that are grid friendly and grid unfriendly.

Recent Publications

Eto, Joseph H, Francis Tuffner, John Undrill, Don Scoffield, Dmitry Kosterev, and Ryan Quint."Distribution-Level Impacts of Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging on the Transmission System during Fault Conditions." (2021).
Contact
Joseph Eto
Lead and PI

Team Members

  • Frank Tuffner, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • John Undrill, Arizona State University
  • Don Scoffield, Idaho National Laboratory
  • Dmitry Kosterev, Bonneville Power Administration
  • Ryan Quint, North American Electric Reliability Corporation