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SCE Cites "End Charge Time" as key feature for load-balancing Electric Vehicle charging
Date:
8/16/2013 4:21:33 AM
Category:
Industry News
After examining power usage patterns among more than 12,000 plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles it provides charging services for, Southern California Edison (SCE) published six key findings related to energy consumption and load-balancing that dispel many fears about widespread adoption of EVs on the electric grid.
As consumers get used to charging EVs overnight their "range anxiety" diminishes, and by relying on smart chargers with "end charge time" progamming (which delays charging initially so that the electric load begins later overnight), SCE is able to balance the load on its generators out more evenly than if all vehicles began charging at 7pm.
SCE also cites the use of special charging rates and broad use of charging stations as incentives for consumers to educate themselves and adopt "smart charging" schedules, further reducing peak loads on the utility's infrastructure. Countering claims that widespread use of battery-driven vehicles would require large investments to increase the power grid, SCE found only 1% of its expenditures were due to increased power demands.
Source:
http://newsroom.edison.com/internal_redirect/cms.ipressroom.com.s3.amazonaws.com/166/files/20136/SCE-EVWhitePaper2013.pdf