NREL Study Finds that Uncoordinated Plug-In Vehicle Charging Could Prove Challenging to the Grid

An influx of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) charging without coordination could prove challenging to the nation’s electric grid, according to research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Matteo Muratori, a transportation and energy systems engineer at NREL and author of the new Nature Energy paper, Impact of Uncoordinated Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging on Residential Power Demand, created a computer simulation to explore the effects of in-home charging on the grid.

“Realizing the full benefits of vehicle electrification will necessitate a systems-level approach that treats vehicles, buildings, and the grid as an integrated network,” said Johney Green Jr., NREL’s associate lab director for Mechanical and Thermal Engineering Sciences.

“Previous research into the amount of energy required by homes hasn’t taken into account plug-in electric vehicles,” said Muratori, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.  “Given that more people are choosing to drive these types of vehicles and charging them at home, this additional demand should not be overlooked.”

The simulation concluded that a PEV market share of up to 3 percent, which translates to about 7.5 million vehicles, does not significantly impact the aggregate residential power demand.  More than 600,000 plug-in electric vehicles were already on the road at the end of 2016, a figure that includes about 150,000 sold during the year.

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