3 Reasons Why Smart Charging Is Key for Electric Vehicle Fleets

电动汽车（EV）的魅力从未如此强大。电动汽车的尾管排放量为零，比传统汽油动力的车辆提供的运营成本更低，现在采用一系列时尚的车型。随着私营部门倡议的逆风，例如国际EV100program and theCorporate Electric Vehicle Alliancebehind them, electric vehicles are now being integrated into a range of fleet types — includingurban deliveryservices, public school buses,ride-hailing公司，最近美国联邦舰队.

This shift is in line with the Paris Agreement: alongside other measures, the global stock of EVs needs to grow by afactor of 22through 2030 for global temperature rise to stay below 2°C. However, it’s not just more EVs we need but, critically, cleaner and more efficient electrical grids.

Over the next decade, electricity demand from electric vehicle fleets in the United States alone is expected to reach230 Terawatt小时每年 - 超过5％的净U.S. power generationin 2019. Without careful charging management, local utilities may be forced to match this new energy demand by introducing additional, and potentially dirty, power generation resources. Additionally, fleet operators may be left scrambling to cover costly upgrades to distribution infrastructure and hefty utility bills from vehicle charging.

Avoiding these pitfalls will require managed charging, also known as smart charging. The term broadly refers to any technology or policy designed to mitigate the impacts of EV charging on the electrical grid and minimize costs by controlling the time, power and location of charging. If managed charging is implemented correctly, EVs can even become energy storage assets to improve grid functionality and support the growth of renewable energy.

智能充电技术和政策对于美国的负担得起且可持续的EV过渡至关重要的三个原因是：

1. Making grid connection easier and cost-effective

The scale of electricity demand associated with transportation electrification has become relevant to near-term power grid infrastructure planning just在过去的十年中, with the release of mass-market EVs such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt. As a result, most of the distribution infrastructure that is installed today was not built to support mass EV charging.

通常在中央仓库停放和燃料的车队可能会根据其充电方式超载当地的电源电网。最初为支持照明和办公空间支撑电气负载而建造的舰队停车设施最终将需要适应舰队充电的额外电力需求。如果电动汽车充电所需的能量超过了本地分销基础设施的能力，则可能需要对该基础设施的昂贵升级（更换a small transformeralone could cost over $23,000 in hardware and labor). For fleet managers and utilities, smart charging can be a beneficial tool to help avoid or defer the need for these grid upgrades, reducing the complexity and cost of grid interconnection for EV fleets.

例如，当United Parcel Service (UPS)began to electrify the company’s Central London delivery fleet in 2013, efforts were constrained by the capacity of the local electric grid and pre-existing power demand at the facility. The company initially switched 10 of its delivery trucks to electric models and purchased an upgraded electrical connection from the utility to accommodate more electric delivery trucks at the depot. By 2018, the depot had reached this limit. To avoid another round of costly upgrades, UPS turned to managed charging to control when charging occurred and how much power each vehicle could use. This ultimately helped spread demand for energy throughout the night, avoiding the need for additional capacity upgrades.

Through managed charging,UPS found the depot had overestimated最初进行的分销升级规模和较小的升级可能足以容纳完整的舰队。

Had the flexibility of smart charging been considered from the outset, fewer distribution upgrades would have been needed, meaning even bigger savings on avoided grid infrastructure costs.

2. Controlling utility bills more effectively

Even if existing local distribution capacity can accommodate EV charging, managed charging can still provide considerable benefits by enabling fleet operators to control consumption throughout the day. This can help customers avoid需求指控- 在一个月内（通常15分钟）间隔内（通常15分钟）内的客户峰值消耗时期确定的公用事业率结构。

For direct current fast chargers, for example, which are necessary to charge heavy-duty fleets and use high power volumes, demand charges can be significant, especially for fleet operators who are accustomed to limited electricity demand at their facilities. In some cases, depending on daily usage patterns and local utility rates, demand charges can弥补90％of operational costs if charging is unmanaged.

When the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) implemented anelectric school bus pilot为了评估2016年添加三辆电动巴士的可行性，所使用的充电设备无法管理充电。在发生充电会话时无法改变电力需求并进行调整，这导致需求费用相当于该年度飞行员总能源成本的36％，这是智能充电可能完全阻止的额外费用。

Such smart charging enables EV fleets to easily manage utility bills by optimizing power consumption while the fleet continues to operate on schedule. Charging infrastructure is also a more flexible asset, helping to future-proof for unforeseen changes and take advantage of reduced power rates available through a utility.

3. Supporting new renewable energy capacity and integration

太阳能和风能是间歇性可再生资源的例子，这意味着根据阳光和风资源的可用性，它们的一代产量在白天波动。为了更好地调整充电和可再生能源的发电，客户可以利用使用时间率 - 一种行为形式的充电形式，当可再生能源丰富时充电时，为客户提供了节省的电力。

In April 2018, customers of Pacific Gas & Electric and BMW North America agreed to delay EV charging for up to an hour each day to better align with times when renewable energy was available on the grid, as part of the充电托管充电计划。作为交换，客户收到的电费较低，每年每年消耗1200千瓦时可再生能源，相当于3,500至5,000英里的额外零碳旅行。

电动电动电池还可以帮助实用程序和其他系统操作员整合更多可再生能源onto the grid and address associated intermittency concerns. In areas with higher levels of renewable energy access, such as California, charging EV fleets at specific times can create an important source offlexible energy demand.

Instead of curtailing excess solar energy during peak generation periods, for example, it can be stored in EV batteries and used later — not only by the vehicle itself but potentially by other consumers through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. This advanced form of managed charging technology allows electricity to be pushed from EV batteries back onto the grid at specific times, essentially enabling EV fleets to function as giant energy storage systems.

How to Incorporate Managed Charging into Fleet Electrification

As fleets electrify, managed charging should be incorporated by operators and utilities from the start to maintain low operational costs and support both grid flexibility and sustainability. Fleet operators can kickstart this process by:

Quantifying grid impacts:充电负荷会根据运营要求（例如车队尺寸，车辆级别和运营时间表）而变化很大。Quantifying these impacts将使车队运营商可以将电力需求与本地分销能力进行比较，以确定智能充电如何帮助他们避免进行分销基础设施升级。

与公用事业合作：涉及公用事业计划过程可以阐明车队充电如何与当前的电价结构相互作用。在某些情况下，公用事业公司提出了替代费率结构减少或消除需求费for EVs. Utility engagement also provides opportunities to explore how to support renewable energy integration, the potential for V2G and how other smart charging polices could be incorporated.

Engaging with manufacturers:Not all charging equipment has the right hardware and software to support managed charging. Fleet managers should identify potential charging system manufacturers that can enable smart charging and determine how that equipment can support the needs of their fleet.

Exploring EV fleet service providers:As interest in electrifying commercial fleets has grown, several companies provide charging as a service. These companies offer fleets a one-stop shop for navigating the electrification process, such as implementing managed charging systems and facilitating relationships with charger manufacturers, software vendors and utilities.

With a massive uptick in electrification just around the corner, the range of benefits smart charging can enable for these fleets is vital for an affordable and sustainable EV transition, one that will require collaboration, planning and innovation.

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编者注：UPS基金会是WRI捐助者。该公司不影响本文的内容。