Abstract
As electric vehicles gain acceptance, an increasing number of households consider the possibility of buying the bundle including an electric car, a photovoltaic system, and a battery storage unit. Apart from the attractive environmental benefits, a relevant uncertainty concerns the economic convenience of such a choice. Since many variables play a role, we set up a total cost of ownership model to evaluate whether, and under which conditions, the bundle is cost-competitive relative to buying an electric car only (and charging it from the electrical grid) or a conventional combustion engine car. By combining, for the first time, such an economic model with an energy model and a driving profile model, we find that the degree of electricity self-production used to charge the electric car might be very high, varying from 90% to 62%, depending on the annual distance traveled. The cost of such electricity varies widely and can be lower than the grid electricity price when fiscal incentives are available and for long annual distances traveled. A smart charging practice based on both economic factors and weather forecast can greatly enhance self-sufficiency, i.e., independence from the electrical grid. We estimate that, given the current Italian financial incentives, 10,000 km/year are needed to make the electric car cost-competitive with respect to an equivalent petrol-fueled one. Such threshold increases to more than 25,000 km/year if financial incentives are removed.
Highlights
The uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) is rapidly increasing
(%PV2HDL); The percentage of electricity produced by PV and discharged into the electrical grid (%PV2Grid); The levelized cost of the photovoltaic recharge (LCOPR); The levelized cost of storage (LCOS); The PV–battery storage (BS) electricity cost; The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)/km of the EV coupled with a PV–BS system (EVPV–BS ); The TCO/km of the EV charged only from the electrical grid (EVgrid ); The TCO/km of the petrol fueled internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs)
We developed a technoeconomic model that combines an energy model, a driving profile model, and a total cost of ownership model
Summary
The uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) is rapidly increasing. The stock of EVs (Battery ElectricVehicles and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles) in 2018, worldwide, was 5.1 million [1], to which more the 2.2 million EVs were added in 2019, no official data were available at the time of writing of this manuscript. The uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) is rapidly increasing. Under current carbon intensities of electricity generation, EVs and heat pumps are less emission intensive than fossil-fuel-based alternatives in 53 world regions, representing 95% of the global transport and heating demand [4]. In accordance with these trends, residential photovoltaic plants (PVs) supply renewable energy to the electrical grid and, especially when coupled with energy storage, contribute to contain the electricity request to the electrical grid, which might significantly increase as EVs progressively substitute ICEVs. Households become prosumers, i.e., producers and consumers of electricity at the same time.
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