Grid Reliability Impacts of EV Charging-Two Important Initiatives-Call for Engagement
Several years ago, with the support of EnerTech Capital, the California Mobility Center, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), WECC and other organizations, I was fortunate to be involved in helping to form and manage a working group focused on increasing cross sector collaboration to better understand and mitigate potential adverse impacts of EV charging. In April 2022, a CMC working group published a paper including a number of grid friendly charging recommendations, as well as highlighted the need for more robust technical collaboration between the electric industry and EV OEMs and real-world data to both support and build on recommendations regarding grid friendly charging behaviors.
I'm highlighting two recent initiatives and encouraging ongoing technical engagement and support from experts in utility, automotive, communications, software, consulting, and related fields.
NERC is proposing to stand up an electric vehicle task force under its industry led Reliability Security Technical Committee. The task force deliverables over 2 years include reports regarding bulk power system reliability risks, a technical report on EV charging states and type tests, improvements in EV charging load modeling, and recommendations regarding interconnection requirements. For more information contact john.skeath@nerc.net or ryan.quint@elevate.energy
In addition, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute recently made available a paper entitled “Exploratory Pilot: Analyzing Grid and EV Interactions Through Measuring Driving Behavior, Charging Behavior and Electricity.” James Sayer and Eric Wingfield led the work for UMTRI, together with Taylor Spalt from Utilidata. The pilot monitored ten vehicles for operational data over 86 days at 8 public charging locations outfitted with Utilidata’s meter adapters. Among the observations was that during specific charging events, EVs generated increased power loss, contributed to voltage loss, and created unfriendly grid responses among other effects. Further research is recommended to support the assessment of potential broader grid impacts, as well as improve modeling. These observations are consistent with the findings contained in the CMC working group report. The paper also included observations regarding charging behaviors and impacts. Continued stakeholder supported research by UMTRI is critical and can help inform the NERC EV Task Force initiative. Please reach out to Eric Wingfiled at UMTRI for a copy of the paper. He may be reached at ericwing@umich.edu
Fostering electric system reliability is critical to the success and reputation of the automotive and utility industries.
Getting this type of collaboration off the ground and maintaining momentum is not easy, especially given the pressing challenges facing both industries. Please lean in. Your support is critical.