Search Results

Electric vehicles (EVs) hold the potential to greatly shape the way the electric power grid functions. As a load, EVs can be managed to prevent overloads on the electric power system. EVs with bidirectional power flow (V2G) can provide a wide range of services, including load balancing, and can be used to increase integration of renewable resources into electric power markets. Realizing the potential of EVs requires more advanced communication than the technology that is in wide use. Common charging standards do not include a means for an EV to send key vehicle characteristics such as maximum charge rate or battery capacity to a charging station and thus to the grid. In response to the need for a means of obtaining vehicle parameters without advanced communication, this paper suggests a mechanism that would allow electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) to identify the type (manufacturer, model and year) of the vehicle plugged in, and so learn several of the needed parameters.

In order to reduce emissions and enhance energy security, renewable power sources are being introduced proactively. As the fraction of these sources on a power grid grows, it will become more difficult to maintain balance between renewable power supply and coincident demand, because renewable power generation changes frequently and significantly, depending on weather conditions. As a means of resolving this imbalance between supply and demand, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is being discussed, because it enables vehicles to contribute to stabilizing the power grid by utilizing on-board batteries as a distributed energy resource as well as an energy storage for propulsion. The authors have built a plug-in vehicle with a capability of backfeeding to the power grid, by integrating a bi-directional on-board AC/DC and DC/AC converter (on-board charger) and a digital communication device into the vehicle. The vehicle is interconnected to a power regulation market in the United States.