Report: Utilities aren’t ready for EV growth

Many utilities lack the tools at the grid edge required to handle EV growth, according to a newly released report.

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has released the results of a research project that studied the relationship between electric vehicle (EV) driving and charging behaviors to understand how those behaviors impact the electric grid. The study was conducted with Utilidata, an AI-powered technology company.

“At UMTRI, our data collection and research projects are focused on creating a safer, more efficient, and equitable transportation future through data-driven decisions,” said Jim Sayer, UMTRI director.

“Working with Utilidata’s technology revealed the need to capture and analyse granular data locally to maximize the benefits EVs can provide to the grid while significantly mitigating risks. We hope this study will serve as a foundation for a more comprehensive research project to further explore how distributed AI can enable a more efficient and reliable grid to support electric transportation.”

UMTRI installed Utilidata’s distributed AI platform, Karman, via electric meter adapters at multiple EV charging stations on the University of Michigan campus to measure grid performance.

Vehicle monitoring devices were installed on the EVs of drivers who charge their vehicles at one or more of the selected charging stations to uncover driving and charging behavior.

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Data was collected for 16 weeks, ultimately determining that while there is “considerable uncertainty” around charging behavior and significant impacts on power quality, there is an opportunity for EVs to add value to the grid. 

Findings from this initial study include: 

• EV charging can cause unexpected rapid swings in current draw which can lead to inefficient energy consumption, resulting in overheated wires, transformer stress and possible outages. 
• Areas with high volumes of unmanaged EV charging are more likely to experience power outages. 
• Utilities need the ability to calculate high-resolution measurements with local computation at individual locations to understand which locations can accommodate EV charging.
• EV charging can cause equipment degradation and possible failure as it lowers power quality by introducing current harmonics generated from the conversion of AC to DC power. 
• With granular real-time data, utilities can manage EV charging in the presence of faults to mitigate the fault impact and facilitate faster recovery.

“It’s clear utilities need tools at the grid edge to fully understand the impact of EV charging in real-time. Fortunately, the Karman platform identifies these issues and allows utilities to leverage AI models right at the source of charging to predict, model, and manage EV charging to prevent outages, lower grid costs, and add value to the grid,” said Utilidata CEO Josh Brumberger.

“Working with UMTRI allowed us to combine our expertise in AI and the electric grid with UMTRI’s expertise in innovation and transportation to identify opportunities and challenges on the grid as EV charging demand increases.” 

Originally published by Sean Wolfe on, and edited with permission from, Power Grid International.