Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical Aspects

Electric vehicles (EVs) are penetrating rapidly into the transport sector while making profound impact on the electricity and energy sectors. Although EVs have many benefits, it poses several challenges to power grid operators. Uncoordinated EV charging is one of the critical issues that need to be...

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Main Authors: Sridevi Tirunagari, Mingchen Gu, Lasantha Meegahapola
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2022-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9931106/
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author Sridevi Tirunagari
Mingchen Gu
Lasantha Meegahapola
author_facet Sridevi Tirunagari
Mingchen Gu
Lasantha Meegahapola
author_sort Sridevi Tirunagari
collection DOAJ
description Electric vehicles (EVs) are penetrating rapidly into the transport sector while making profound impact on the electricity and energy sectors. Although EVs have many benefits, it poses several challenges to power grid operators. Uncoordinated EV charging is one of the critical issues that need to be addressed to mitigate the potential adverse effects on power grids. Smart charging and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies enable smart power transfer between the EV and the grid considering network conditions and requirements. Therefore, smart charging and V2G can alleviate the adverse effects but requires policies and regulatory frameworks to increase the uptake of these technologies. This paper presents a critical review on the effects of unmanaged charging of EVs, and the benefits of smart charging and V2G considering the published research studies and real-world field trials. Simulation case studies also demonstrate the adverse effects of uncoordinated charging and the benefits of smart charging. According to this study, unmanaged charging increases the peak load, which in turn causes high power losses, voltage violations, voltage unbalance, reduction of transformer lifespan and harmonic distortion. This study has established that smart charging alleviates these network issues and brings a wide range of economic, social, and environmental benefits. In particular, role of smart charging as a mandatory requirement for attaining the net-zero decarbonization target of the transport sector is highlighted. Finally, the paper sheds light on the policy, standards and regulatory frameworks that need to be implemented to promote smart charging and V2G technologies among EV owners and charging infrastructure developers.
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spelling doaj.art-ab617c2fbb794b5d97feaf3dfd8c7cd82022-12-22T03:36:30ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362022-01-011011465711467210.1109/ACCESS.2022.32175259931106Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical AspectsSridevi Tirunagari0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7020-6130Mingchen Gu1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9714-3811Lasantha Meegahapola2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4471-8471Department of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaDepartment of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaDepartment of Electrical & Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaElectric vehicles (EVs) are penetrating rapidly into the transport sector while making profound impact on the electricity and energy sectors. Although EVs have many benefits, it poses several challenges to power grid operators. Uncoordinated EV charging is one of the critical issues that need to be addressed to mitigate the potential adverse effects on power grids. Smart charging and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies enable smart power transfer between the EV and the grid considering network conditions and requirements. Therefore, smart charging and V2G can alleviate the adverse effects but requires policies and regulatory frameworks to increase the uptake of these technologies. This paper presents a critical review on the effects of unmanaged charging of EVs, and the benefits of smart charging and V2G considering the published research studies and real-world field trials. Simulation case studies also demonstrate the adverse effects of uncoordinated charging and the benefits of smart charging. According to this study, unmanaged charging increases the peak load, which in turn causes high power losses, voltage violations, voltage unbalance, reduction of transformer lifespan and harmonic distortion. This study has established that smart charging alleviates these network issues and brings a wide range of economic, social, and environmental benefits. In particular, role of smart charging as a mandatory requirement for attaining the net-zero decarbonization target of the transport sector is highlighted. Finally, the paper sheds light on the policy, standards and regulatory frameworks that need to be implemented to promote smart charging and V2G technologies among EV owners and charging infrastructure developers.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9931106/Electric vehicle (EV)renewable energysmart charginguncoordinated chargingvoltage violationsvoltage unbalance and vehicle to grid (V2G)
spellingShingle Sridevi Tirunagari
Mingchen Gu
Lasantha Meegahapola
Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical Aspects
IEEE Access
Electric vehicle (EV)
renewable energy
smart charging
uncoordinated charging
voltage violations
voltage unbalance and vehicle to grid (V2G)
title Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical Aspects
title_full Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical Aspects
title_fullStr Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical Aspects
title_full_unstemmed Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical Aspects
title_short Reaping the Benefits of Smart Electric Vehicle Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies: Regulatory, Policy and Technical Aspects
title_sort reaping the benefits of smart electric vehicle charging and vehicle to grid technologies regulatory policy and technical aspects
topic Electric vehicle (EV)
renewable energy
smart charging
uncoordinated charging
voltage violations
voltage unbalance and vehicle to grid (V2G)
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9931106/
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