Analysis of power network loading due to fast charging of Electric Vehicles on highways

Limited range of Electric Vehicle's (EV) battery in terms of number of miles per recharge, requires EV to recharge the battery at least once during the long trip. However, long charging durations are not acceptable in these cases, therefore fast charging of EV is needed. Fast charging of EV needs more charging power for relatively shorter period of time, which gives rise to overloading of the power network due to simultaneous charging of multiple EVs at the fast charging stations. This paper studies the power network requirements to meet the EV fast charging needs on highways. Different parameters are considered in the study, for instance, arrival order of EVs at the charging stations, number of charging slots per charging station, power rating of installed chargers, distance between charging stations, state of charge (SoC) of EVs arriving for charging, battery capacities, waiting time at charging stations and the duration of charging. Various scenarios are simulated using Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) to see the impact of fast charging on the power network loading. The key finding is the peak load on individual fast charging stations with respect to different penetration levels of EVs on the road. A real highway case in Finland is considered in this study to show the rationality of the results.