Among the challenges and doubts that the electric car presents is what would happen if there were mass adoption. Obviously they would have to be fed. If we think about fossil fuel cars and their variants, the solution has been operational for decades: those gas stations spread throughout our municipalities that we use as we see fit.
In the event that everyone had an electric car, the million-dollar question is whether the electrical grid is designed to support that demand. A study by The Brattle Group for EnergyHub Change that focus that invites you to think about more investment in infrastructure for a more sensible solution: choose the moment well. Because there is a potentially disastrous habit: charging the car as soon as you get home.
What the study says. This study shows that the most widespread solution to manage the charging of electric cars is to take advantage of the cheapest nighttime electricity rate. When night falls and the price drops, the bulk of the cars begin to charge practically at the same time, creating at that moment a consumption peak twice as high as the largest peak that could occur if each driver charged whenever they wanted without any type of restriction.
Why is it important. Because the electrical network does not suffer from total consumption but rather it is those specific peaks that are critical, forcing the infrastructure to be reinforced. The problem is not how much energy they consume but when. The study calculates that precisely this attractive night rate is what forces work to be done earlier than necessary, with secondary lines, transformers, substations, an expensive infrastructure that everyone pays for, whether they have an electric car or not.
What the study proposes is to use active managed charging, that is, to intelligently distribute the charging moment of each vehicle. According to their tests, this practice would allow between doubling and tripling (depending on the network section, between 1.3 and 3.2 times) to absorb more EV cars without major rushes.
Context. The study sample is the driving and charging habits of 58 people residing in the state of Washington in real use situations. And although there are obviously differences between American and Spanish citizens (without going any further, in the architecture of their homes), this charging habit can be extrapolated and so can its conclusions. Thus, while the cheap American rate starts at 9 p.m., in Spain It goes from 12 at night to 8 in the morning.
Nowadays, the standard strategy of countries and electricity companies to distribute consumption involves peak-off-peak rates because they are easy to implement and understand for citizens. However, this type of time discrimination rates were developed before electric cars existed and even the latest modification (in Spain it was in 2021) when these were rare birds.
The proposal. This type of charging does not imply that the driver loses absolute control over the load or that in the morning you prepare to go to work and find that your vehicle has 10% battery. Broadly speaking, smart charging looks like what mobile phones do.
Thus, the most advanced platforms analyze the real usage habits of each person so that, when you go to the car at your usual time, you find it ready. The system knows what time you need the car charged, it charges it little by little during the night, taking advantage of the times of lower demand and arrives on time with the car ready. The study concludes that the key is to anticipate: if these systems are implemented before mass adoption, the savings in infrastructure can be notable.
A trust problem. The point is not so much to have this technology, as there are companies like ev.energy, Kaluza either WeaveGrid with pilot programs of virtual power plants that manage demand to balance consumption, but with trust: forget about the plug and hand over the charging task to a platform with the peace of mind that you will have your car ready when you need it.
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