While there may be concerns about how electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure will develop and impact cities, security, costs, vehicles, and the grid, rest assured many dedicated companies and organizations are researching and working on the best-case scenarios.
Several experts, professionals, and stakeholders met at this week’s 5th Annual EV Charging Infrastructure Summit in Chicago — an event organized by the Smart Grid Observer, an information portal serving the global smart energy industry.
The Summit convenes top industry experts and utility professionals to examine how growing EV adoption rates will impact the network, including the investments necessary to ensure grid stability and benefit. The goal is to identify technologies and share strategies and business models, ensuring widespread EV adoption is optimized for all parties.
This year’s Summit brought a host of speakers and record attendance, with some unique technologies. A few are discussed below. Expect more innovations and advancement over time. As Tom Miller, senior director, Energy and Environment Policy for the Alliance for the Automotive Innovation, pointed out: “Automakers have committed to investing more than $1.2 trillion globally by 2030 to advance vehicle electrification.”
EVs and the requisite chargers are only going to grow in demand.
Reliable, undistorted power
The PQube 3 power analyzer.
One common byproduct of inverters used to convert ac to dc current — such as for EV fast charging — is a grid experiencing high levels of total harmonic distortion. Often a passive harmonic filter is used to solve the problem.
However, actively filtering out harmonics that cause disruptions goes a step further. An active harmonic filter in voltage control mode solves the charging station’s power distortion while mitigating the distortion from other sources on the grid.
As EVs continue to gain popularity, utilities and charging suppliers must take greater control of power quality. Actively filtering out harmonics is one way to ensure that happens. Prevention is another critical element for ensuring reliable EV charging. Now, it’s possible to monitor whether the power used is reliable, stable, and clean.
Get real-time, remotely monitored, data-driven analysis with Powerside’s PQube 3, an ultra-precise power analyzer that quickly pinpoints hidden power quality issues.
Safer surge protection
Power protection cabinets.
Protecting people and equipment in EV charging environments is essential. With an increasing number of EVs on the road, multiple charging stations and fleet depots are becoming more prevalent — which come with additional risks. For this reason, the power distribution and protection cabinets (PPCs), responsible for the safe and efficient delivery of the power that charges EVs, must be failsafe.
Fortunately, there are PPCs that comply with the National Electric Code (NEC) and include mission-critical EV surge protection devices (SPD) designed for ac power protection. This means the power distributed to charge EVs is protected from overvoltage from the utility or lightning events.
Raycap’s PPCs are rated for up to 400 Amps to support small and large-scale deployments and allow for future expansion. They’re also UL 67 listed and suitable for service entrance use (SUSE).
Decentralized installations
Conventionally, EV infrastructure installation has been centralized, requiring significant time and labor costs. Additionally, immense space is necessary for proper cable routing and fuse installation, as well as for the large number of conduit lines in the distribution cabinet.
Spot the difference! The decentralized EV charging option (right) is cleaner, quicker, and requires far less space.
Now, it’s possible to save space by using a unique, decentralized cable power distribution system. Wieland’s podis flat cable allows an installer to implement energy distribution for an entire parking structure with just one supply line, placing the modules for power exactly where needed.
The TCER cable is NEC and UL-approved to replace pipe and wire for power distribution. It’s highly flexible during installation for conversion and easy expansion. Ultimately, podis saves time, space, and costs. Statistics show an overall 66% of time saved at the first installation, 88% of time saved for extensions, and 30% saved on the installation costs.
Battery-buffered charging
Imagine fully charging EVs in more places, including where the current infrastructure is unable to meet power demands. This need for fast, convenient charging is increasing but is limited by the constraints of the electric power grid.
The ChargeBox System.
Power availability no longer has to restrict EV charging, thanks to a new battery-buffered approach, which allows charging network operators to offer fast and dependable charging on existing power-limited grids — without infrastructure upgrades and by cutting peak power demand by 65% compared to common dc chargers.
So, how does ultra-fast charging work on a power-limited grid? Integrating battery storage, which stores power from the public grid, ensures it’s always available with up to 320 kW for EVs. No transformer station or network expansion is necessary.
ADS-TEC’s battery-buffered solutions — including ChargeBox, the most compact and efficient solution in its class — can connect to 400 V of existing grid power. ChargeBox is compatible with voltage ranges from 150 to 920 V, making it future-proof and ready for the latest EVs.
Energy management for fleets
Electric fleet operators can reduce EV charger downtime and electric fueling costs — with the right software. One of the latest solutions offers a 45% decrease in energy costs and 99% charger uptime, with 150-k optimized charging sessions.
EV charging management systems can reduce energy costs, increase charger uptime, and track vehicles.
Ampcontrol’s software connects to the EV charging hardware and vehicle telematics to make real-time decisions and provide detailed monitoring tools. Benefits are on-time departures, a low peak power demand, energy cost reductions, and fully charged vehicles.
It’s also possible to:
- Reduce peak power demand and install more charging stations without grid upgrades.
- Avoid costly energy prices (TOU rates, day-ahead, or spot pricing) with Ampcontrol’s AI-powered optimization.
- Connect the smart charging system to building meters and avoid grid upgrades on existing sites.
- Increase the EV fleet uptime with on-site solar power generation and battery energy storage.
Learn more here.
AI-accelerated site deployment
Find the ideal EV charging site locations by using AI.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can play a vital role in identifying the optimal locations for EV charging stations, streamlining site designs, optimizing use, and improving the overall efficiency of the EV charging ecosystem. Essentially, it takes the risk and guesswork out of building EV charging sites.
Case-in-point: Alpha Grid monitors 100 million data points of EV charging station data nationally in real-time using AI to create an instant, accurate picture of demand, then automatically generates sales proposals and site designs in seconds. It supports data-driven decisions about EV charging with real-time use, power, and ROI calculations.
By leveraging AI, it ensures EV charging infrastructure is deployed in a timely and cost-effective manner.
The robot solution
Range anxiety could be a thing of the past with one simple approach: mobile charging. This means EV drivers no longer have to search for an available EV charging station but can request an autonomous robot, which finds the vehicle and charges it from a stationary energy source.
An autonomous robot EV charger making its way to a vehicle that requires charging.
This novel approach removes the CAPEX requirement of building infrastructure that’s fixed and not easily scalable. Instead, robots are deployed on demand.
How it works: upon notification, a robot goes to the EV, connects with a vehicle’s “smart adapter,” and begins the charging session. A docking station serves as a home base for the robots and a buffer to the grid, recharging between vehicle visits.
Inductive Robotics helps eliminate “EV only” parking spots with autonomous, commercial EV charging as a service.
An EV pilot program
There’s an AI-powered pilot program that aims to revolutionize efficient and cost-effective EV charging. It uses real-time data to predict demand, considering forecasted consumer loads, along with behind — and front-of-the-meter energy storage and renewable generation.
EV Everywhere is a non-wires alternative that mitigates peak loads and reduces the need for capital infrastructure upgrades. Building on BluWave-ai’s distributed AI SaaS platform, it integrates with utility systems, providing optimal dispatch for smart scheduling of EV charging and available battery energy storage.
EV Everywhere also incorporates load prediction, power flow optimization, IoT connectivity, and fast AI execution capability to send load-balancing signals to hardware. Download the BluWave-ai mobile app to enrol your EV.
Filed Under: Charging, Technology News