Effects of long-range electric vehicles on distribution system using probabilistic analysis

Abstract

The number of electric vehicles with larger battery capacity that charges at higher power levels is increasing in residential areas. This scenario directly impacts users' charging behavior and modifies the demand profile of electric vehicles. This paper evaluates the effects of long-range electric vehicles on total charging demand, transformer loading and voltage quality in a real distribution system. Electric vehicles demand is modeled based on real-world data obtained from a large-scale project developed in the United Kingdom. This study proposes performance indices to perform a qualitative analysis of the system and uses Monte Carlo Simulation to consider uncertainties in residential demand and vehicle charging behavior. The results show that the current trend of adopting long-range vehicles that charge at higher power levels modifies vehicles charging frequency and duration. It increases transformer peak demand, and the number of hours the transformer operates overloaded. Voltage quality violations occur less frequently when three-phase connectors are used to charge vehicles, as they split demand between phases.© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.