Impact of electric vehicle charging on the power demand of retail buildings

Abstract

• Fast charging for electric vehicles will be more common at retail sites in the future. • Electric vehicle stations with high power levels can dwarf a building's power demand. • Electric vehicles may arrive at sites to charge when building AC loads are high. • Electricity bills increase most for cold climates and in high-demand-charge scenarios. As electric vehicle penetration increases, charging is expected to have a significant impact on the grid. Electric vehicle charging stations will greatly affect a building site's power demand, especially with the onset of fast charging with power levels as high as 350 kW per charger. Here, we assess how electric vehicle charging stations would impact a retail big box grocery store, exploring numerous station sizes, charging power levels, and utilization factors in various climate zones and seasons. We measure the effect of charging by assessing changes in monthly peak power demand, electricity usage, and annual electricity bill, computed using three distinct rate structures. We find that an electric vehicle station has the potential to dwarf a big box building's power demand if behind the same meter, increasing monthly peak power demand at the site by over 250%. Cold-climate areas paired with rate structures incorporating high demand charges are most susceptible for significant changes to the annual electricity bill, with increases as high as 88%.