Electric Vehicle Charging News
March 4, 2020
Why electric utilities need to help their customers understand the truth about Electric Vehicle range anxiety
Car commercials invariably show drivers heading up rugged mountain roads with spectacular views of mountain ranges and lakes, or showcase urban streets crowded by skyscrapers. The reality turns out to be a lot more mundane. Rather than the open road, cars spend most of their time plying city streets while shepherding people to work, errands, gatherings, and as chauffeur service for transporting kids to[...]
January 27, 2020
Looking at EV adoption barriers with 2020 vision and what utilities can do to remove them.
Electric Vehicles represent a significant change for everyone involved, but utility companies potentially have the most to gain. By taking a leadership role earlier on, and addressing the concerns of their customers, utilities can establish themselves as key players in the world of EVs. This isn’t easy to accomplish as the market is still evolving and EVs are very different compared to other sources of electrical load. Everyone can feel the growing pains, but we have to work together to get through them as we all depend on the grid.
December 30, 2019
2019 was a year of EVolution
There were a lot of unexpected headlines in 2019 and the EV ecosystem in North America was no exception. EV sales continued to skyrocket, there were major vehicle announcements from almost all the manufacturers and there were a record number of utilities investing in ways to integrate EVs with the grid. Some news was great, like the price of batteries falling 87% over the[…]
December 2, 2019
Motivating and educating an electric vehicle owner
Buying an electric vehicle is a journey. Most who ‘go electric’ would have purchased or leased a vehicle before, but an EV is different. Until recently, new electric vehicle drivers have been early adopters and were well informed by the time they are picking the color of their new car. As prices for new EVs continue to drop, and more models enter the market,[…]
November 28, 2019
SRP launches three year EV pilot program “SmartCharge Arizona”
We are excited to announce the recent launch of the “SmartCharge Arizona” electric vehicle (EV) pilot program in conjunction with Salt River Project (SRP). The program launched mid-October and five hundred residential EV owners living in the SRP service territory have already enrolled. This three year study will provide insight in to the charging behavior of the EV drivers in the area. This program[…]
November 6, 2019
The role of electric vehicles in a microgrid before V2G
If you have read any industry articles or have attended any conferences related to utilities, EVs, or load management in the past few years there are two things that are covered frequently: Microgrids and vehicle-to-grid (V2G). This isn’t surprising as both technologies have the potential to fundamentally alter the electrical utility landscape and they both challenge the way we currently manage electrical load. With[…]
October 24, 2019
The challenges EV owners face when they live in a MURB or MDU
Electric vehicle adoption continues to grow and it is predicted that EVs will represent 57% of all passenger vehicle sales by 2040. The advancements of battery technology, along with a lower price range, has made them more appealable to a larger audience. Range anxiety is becoming less of an issue as newer battery electric vehicles (BEV) boast ranges of over 300 miles, which enables[…]
October 3, 2019
BYOC: Bring Your Own Car and thinking of electric vehicles as flexible assets for the grid
It was first recorded in the 1970s that someone sent out an invitation with the acronym BYOB, meaning Bring Your Own Beer/Booze/Bottle. Over the last 50 years this concept has lingered and today the “Bring Your Own” mentality is applied to almost everything. Mobile phone companies allow you to bring your own phone to their service plans, some companies allow their employees to bring[…]
September 16, 2019
How utilities can bring their customers out of the “ICE” age and in to an EV
This week is National Drive Electric Week, a nationwide celebration with one goal: increase the adoption of electric vehicles. In order to achieve this goal they need to tackle two of the most difficult tasks for any new product or service, education and awareness. Both tasks can be time-consuming, frustrating and expensive, but they are critical for the future of electrifying transportation. This responsibility[…]
September 4, 2019
Considerations when launching an EV load profiling study
Before you can solve a problem you need to fully understand it, and in a previous article I wrote about why utilities should conduct an EV charging load study to profile their territory. Utility providers need to understand how electric vehicles charge and drive in their service area for a variety of reasons including the placement of public charging stations (EVSE), load management, and[…]
