Electric Utility
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 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[…]
August 20, 2019
The Evolution of EV charging load in North America and why data from 5 years ago has expired
Would you make investments in the stock market today based on information from 5 years ago? Of course you wouldn’t, companies rise and fall, new technology disrupts markets, and trends change. This is exactly why utility companies shouldn’t be relying on EV charging data that’s 5 or more years old, it’s now outdated. In 2014 there were 558,953 electric vehicles sold in the US,[…]
July 31, 2019
Why behavioural load shifting needs to be a part of your EV charging load management strategy
The Demand Response landscape is changing, and although shedding or curtailing electricity for high consumption appliances has been well established, the need to manage residential load as well as the way load is managed has changed. While smart thermostats and other smart home devices have increased the energy efficiency of homes and demand programs alike, there is still one device that needs to be[…]
July 24, 2019
Charge the North: Summary Report
On June 14th, 2017 a groundbreaking research project was launched to address the impact of electric vehicles in Canada. The Charge the North project, which was developed with support from Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program, set out to better understand how electric vehicles are being charged and driven as well as the related effects on the existing electrical infrastructure. It also tackled a[…]
June 26, 2019
Finding the value of managing your electric vehicle charging load
Regardless of what type of business you’re in you always need to prepare for change. Electric vehicles are going to be a significant change that utility companies are going to have to deal with and this change has the potential to be both a great asset or a great liability. A new long-range battery electric vehicle (BEV) can consume up to 100 kW to[…]
