Abstract
Multi-type fast charging stations are being deployed over Europe as electric vehicle adoption becomes more popular. The growth of an electrical charging infrastructure in different countries poses different challenges related to its installation. One of these challenges is related to weather conditions that are extremely heterogeneous due to different latitudes, in which fast charging stations are located and whose impact on the charging performance is often neglected or unknown. The present study focused on the evaluation of the electric vehicle (EV) charging process with fast charging devices (up to 50 kW) at ambient (25 °C) and at extreme temperatures (−25 °C, −15 °C, +40 °C). A sample of seven fast chargers and two electric vehicles (CCS (combined charging system) and CHAdeMO (CHArge de Move)) available on the commercial market was considered in the study. Three phase voltages and currents at the wall socket, where the charger was connected, as well as voltage and current at the plug connection between the charger and vehicle have been recorded. According to SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) J2894/1, the power conversion efficiency during the charging process has been calculated as the ratio between the instantaneous DC power delivered to the vehicle and the instantaneous AC power supplied from the grid in order to test the performance of the charger. The inverse of the efficiency of the charging process, i.e., a kind of energy return ratio (ERR), has been calculated as the ratio between the AC energy supplied by the grid to the electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) and the energy delivered to the vehicle’s battery. The evaluation has shown a varied scenario, confirming the efficiency values declared by the manufacturers at ambient temperature and reporting lower energy efficiencies at extreme temperatures, due to lower requested and, thus, delivered power levels. The lowest and highest power conversion efficiencies of 39% and 93% were observed at −25 °C and ambient temperature (+25 °C), respectively.
Highlights
Under certain conditions, e-mobility may represent a great promise for environmental protection and future economic growth
According to SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) J2894/1, the power conversion efficiency during the charging process has been calculated as the ratio between the instantaneous DC power delivered to the vehicle and the instantaneous AC power supplied from the grid in order to test the performance of the charger
This study presents the results of the experimental activities regarding Electric Vehicle (EV) fast charging under
Summary
E-mobility may represent a great promise for environmental protection and future economic growth. The expected 100 million electric vehicles foreseen by 2030 in the Paris declaration on Electro-mobility and Climate Change [1] are far from the over 750,000 sales worldwide in 2016 [2] The reason for this still low market share of BEVs (battery electric vehicles) is, in addition to the higher costs of electric vehicles compared to conventional ones, to the limited driving ranges, Energies 2018, 11, 1937; doi:10.3390/en11081937 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies. Research and development efforts are mainly concentrated on driving range extension and on recharge time reduction In this context, since 2005, fast charging technologies have started to be deployed, so that the AC charging system in Mode 3 has been followed by Mode 4: a fully interactive connection between EV and EVSE which allows higher voltages and currents, reaching 50 kW DC fast charging and, later, up to 350 kW of DC power in so-called high power charging (HPC). Mode 4 introduces higher design challenges than Mode 3, as the EVSE rectifies the alternating current from the grid into direct current and, it is more expensive
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