Optimal electric vehicle scheduling : A co-optimized system and customer perspective

Electric vehicles provide a two pronged solution to the problems faced by the electricity and transportation sectors. They provide a green, highly efficient alternative to the internal combustion engine vehicles, thus reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Secondly, they bear the potential of supporting the grid as energy storage devices while incentivizing the customers through their participation in energy markets. Despite these advantages, widespread adoption of electric vehicles faces socio-technical and economic bottleneck. This dissertation seeks to provide solutions that balance system and customer objectives under present technological capabilities. The research uses electric vehicles as controllable loads and resources. The idea is to provide the customers with required tools to make an informed decision while considering the system conditions. First, a genetic algorithm based optimal charging strategy to reduce the impact of aggregated electric vehicle load has been presented. A Monte Carlo based solution strategy studies change in the solution under different objective functions. This day-ahead scheduling is then extended to real-time coordination using a moving-horizon approach. Further, battery degradation costs have been explored with vehicle-to-grid implementations, thus accounting for customer net-revenue and vehicle utility for grid support. A Pareto front, thus obtained, provides the nexus between customer and system desired operating points. Finally, we propose a transactive business model for a smart airport parking facility. This model identifies various revenue streams and satisfaction indices that benefit the parking lot owner and the customer, thus adding value to the electric vehicle --Abstract, page iv

Electrifying urban ridesourcing fleets at no added cost through efficient use of charging infrastructure

Ridesourcing fleets present an opportunity for rapid uptake of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) but adoption has largely been limited to small pilot projects. Lack of charging infrastructure presents a major barrier to scaling up, but little public information exists on the infrastructure needed to support ridesourcing electrification. With data on ridesourcing trips for New York City and San Francisco, and using agent-based simulations of BEV fleets, we show that given a sparse network of three to four 50 kW chargers per square mile, BEVs can provide the same level of service as internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) at lower cost. This suggests that the cost of charging infrastructure is not a significant barrier to ridesourcing electrification. With coordinated use of charging infrastructure across vehicles, we also find that fleet performance becomes robust to variation in battery range and placement of chargers. Our analysis suggests that mandates on ridesourcing such as the California Clean Miles Standard could achieve electrification without significantly increasing the cost of ridesourcing services

Optimization and Integration of Electric Vehicle Charging System in Coupled Transportation and Distribution Networks

With the development of the EV market, the demand for charging facilities is growing rapidly. The rapid increase in Electric Vehicle and different market factors bring challenges to the prediction of the penetration rate of EV number. The estimates of the uptake rate of EVs for light passenger use vary widely with some scenarios gradual and others aggressive. And there have been many effects on EV penetration rate from incentives, tax breaks, and market price. Given this background, this research is devoted to addressing a stochastic joint planning framework for both EV charging system and distribution network where the EV behaviours in both transportation network and electrical system are considered. And the planning issue is formulated as a multi-objective model with both the capital investment cost and service convenience optimized. The optimal planning of EV charging system in the urban area is the target geographical planning area in this work where the service radius and driving distance is relatively limited. The mathematical modelling of EV driving and charging behaviour in the urban area is developed

Digitalization Processes in Distribution Grids: A Comprehensive Review of Strategies and Challenges

This systematic review meticulously explores the transformative impact of digital technologies on the grid planning, grid operations, and energy market dynamics of power distribution grids. Utilizing a robust methodological framework, over 54,000 scholarly articles were analyzed to investigate the integration and effects of artificial intelligence, machine learning, optimization, the Internet of Things, and advanced metering infrastructure within these key subsections. The literature was categorized to show how these technologies contribute specifically to grid planning, operation, and market mechanisms. It was found that digitalization significantly enhances grid planning through improved forecasting accuracy and robust infrastructure design. In operations, these technologies enable real-time management and advanced fault detection, thereby enhancing reliability and operational efficiency. Moreover, in the market domain, they support more efficient energy trading and help in achieving regulatory compliance, thus fostering transparent and competitive markets. However, challenges such as data complexity and system integration are identified as critical hurdles that must be overcome to fully harness the potential of smart grid technologies. This review not only highlights the comprehensive benefits but also maps out the interdependencies among the planning, operation, and market strategies, underlining the critical role of digital technologies in advancing sustainable and resilient energy systems

The role of asymmetric prediction losses in smart charging of electric vehicles

Climate change prompts humanity to look for decarbonisation opportunities, and a viable option is to supply electric vehicles with renewable energy. The stochastic nature of charging demand and renewable generation requires intelligent charging driven by predictions of charging behaviour. The conventional prediction models of charging behaviour usually minimise the quadratic loss function. Moreover, the adequacy of predictions is almost solely evaluated by accuracy measures, disregarding the consequences of prediction losses in an application context. Here, we study the role of asymmetric prediction losses which enable balancing the over- and under-predictions and adjust predictions to smart charging algorithms. Using the main classes of machine learning methods, we trained prediction models of the connection duration and compared their performance for various asymmetries of the loss function. In addition, we proposed a methodological approach to quantify the consequences of prediction losses on the performance of selected archetypal smart charging schemes. In concrete situations, we demonstrated that an appropriately selected degree of the loss function asymmetry is crucial as it almost doubles the price range where the smart charging is beneficial, and increases the extent to which the charging demand is satisfied up to 40%. Additionally, the proposed methods improve charging fairness since the distribution of unmet charging demand across vehicles becomes more homogeneous.IA4TES MIA.2021.M04.000