A quantitative analysis of the short-term and structural impact of COVID-19 measures on electric vehicle charging patterns

Nico Brinkel, Wouter Schram, Tarek Alskaif, Wilfried Van Sark

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference paperAcademicpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Charging patterns of electric vehicles (EVs) are affected by the global COVID-19 lockdown, which forced people to stay home. This impacts the daily operation of grid operators, as different EV charging patterns could affect grid congestion levels. In addition, this effect could partly be structural, as the COVID-19 lockdown could induce a permanent shift in travel patterns, for instance when a larger share of the working activities are shifted to home. For this reason, this paper analyzes the effect of various phases of the lockdown on the charging volumes and patterns of EVs at three case study locations. In addition, this paper provides insights in future grid congestion levels with different adoption rates of EVs and different shares of the working activities permanently shifting to home after the COVID-19 lockdown. Results show a substantial drop in EV charging volumes; compared to the pre-lockdown phase, charging volumes decreased by almost 75% in the first lockdown phase, and to 60%-70% in later phases. In addition, the outcomes indicate that if a share of the working activities are structurally shifted to home, grid congestion problems in low-voltage grids could be dramatically reduced in the future.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSEST 2021 - 4th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies
PublisherIEEE
ISBN (Electronic)9781728176604
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Sept 2021
Event4th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies, SEST 2021 - Virtual, Vaasa, Finland
Duration: 6 Sept 20218 Sept 2021

Publication series

NameSEST 2021 - 4th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies

Conference/symposium

Conference/symposium4th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies, SEST 2021
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityVirtual, Vaasa
Period6/09/218/09/21

Keywords

  • Charging Profiles
  • Corona Virus
  • COVID-19
  • Electric Vehicle Charging
  • Grid Impact

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