“Cars remain plugged in for much longer than the charge
requires, so there are opportunities to stagger the charging over time”
But even if appropriate charging
equipment is installed in or near homes, the distribution network does not have enough capacity for all households to draw maximum demand at the same time. The net- work is sized assuming everybody have different patterns of behav- iour. This may work when providing energy for cooking Sunday lunches, but when it comes to work commut- ing, we all tend to move like one herd – just look at the rush hour in our big cities. This crush is about to be mimicked on the electricity network, as everybody get back at night at the same time and put their electric vehicle on charge. “Fortunately, cars remain plugged
With smart charging, up to eight times as many vehicles can be charged at the same time, compared to standard charging
economies start to approach the same level as in Norway – and this could start to happen in the next cou- ple of years – this will have a serious impact on the world market for elec- tric vehicles. This will reduce the need for fos-
sil fuels, but increase demand for electricity. So where are all these electric vehicles going to charge? When the electric car is stationary and plugged in, it is a rather power hungry device. Charging an electric vehicle takes a minimum of 2300 watt, placing it within the ranks of the greediest household appliances such as heater fans, kettles and hair dryers. But while the hair dryer is only used for five minutes at a time, the car charger will stay on for eight hours, as 2300 watt will only give a slow charge. For semi-fast charg- ing, nearly ten times higher output is
needed and for fast charging, twenty times more.
HIGH POWER USER While car manufacturers have stepped up to the challenge and bring new technology to the market at a rapid pace, the charging infrastruc- ture shows few signs of changing. “A plug-in vehicle requires 6 to 10
kWh per day. This is a lot of energy compared to other loads,” says Patrik Lindergren, MD of charging equip- ment manufacturer Chargestorm. “Most installations use 16A, sin-
gle phase, but if you have more chargers, you require more output. Some vehicles, for instance Tesla, can use three phase current, ena- bling charging up to 11kW, assum- ing that you have access to three phase current at your property,” says Lindergren.
in for much longer than the charge requires, so there are opportunities to stagger the charging over time. Smart chargers can also balance the load between vehicles. For instance, if two vehicles are plugged into a system that would normally sup- ply 22 kW, they can be allocated 11 kW each. By cleverly arranging the charging cycles, up to eight times as many vehicles can be charged during the same time period. Similar tech- nology can also be used at electric- ity substations to balance the power on a neighbourhood level between households in areas where many draw high loads,” says Lindergren. “But this is on the condition that
you don’t draw more energy than the electricity infrastructure can pro- vide. Utility companies have a stand- ard tariff up to a specific output, for instance 63A. Above that, a price penalty is applied. This can be very high, perhaps fifty times as high per kWh as the standard rate. This can make some investments unprofit- able,” Lindergren points out.
NO ROOM FOR DIY However, keeping your vehicle plugged in for a long period of time brings it own issues. “While the wiring in your house
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Environment and Health in Transport
EV INFRASTRUCTURE
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