Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ELECTRIFIC (Enabling seamless electromobility through smart vehicle-grid integration)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2018-03-01 al 2019-08-31
Dealing with the issues of EV attractiveness, user acceptance and pressure on the power grid is combined within the ELECTRIFIC (http://www.electrific.eu) approach. The concept comprises coordinated charging of multiple EVs, predicting energy consumption and power demand from e-mobility and monitoring repercussions on the power quality in the grid, including local renewable energies for charging. To achieve these objectives (see Figure 1), collaboration between various actors in the e-mobility ecosystem is required. We suggest a combination of three different software components: 1) An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), Android app, that helps EV drivers to plan their charging and navigate their trips (Figure 2). Behavioral aspects of EV users with the ADAS are considered; 2) A smart charger adjusts the charging capacity of each charging station (CS), considering the power grid's needs. A certain level of smartness is integrated during the charging process that considers not only its objective of charging the EV, but also the status of the grid in terms of its power quality, percentage of available renewables and available power capacity. For its implementation (Figure 4) both the DSO and Charging Service Provider require to tightly communicate. 3) A charging scheduler optimizes the charging of EV fleets, also taking battery-friendly charging into account. ELECTRIFIC charging scheduler (see Figure 5) optimizes the charging process of a whole fleet according to different optimization criteria. Based on these data, the charging scheduler can derive a time interval, in which a charging process should be performed. The charging scheduler may prioritize EVs in order to guarantee availability to EFO customers or employees. In order to evaluate these research and technical results, demonstrations in real environments located in Bavaria, the Czech Region of Šumava and Barcelona are executed. As complement, ELECTRIFIC delivers additional key elements around the eMobility ecosystem: a) Metrics e.g. green route, dynamic pricing, state of health, etc.; b) Incentives and rewards schemas; c) Market and impact analysis; d) Sustainable business models. ELECTRIFIC contributes to the progress beyond the state of the art by publishing research results in journals, conference proceedings and public project deliverables.
The work performed during this period was driven by the R&D areas of the project and the demonstration of its results by experiments and field trials: a) ADAS was developed, and released in its 1st stable version via Google Play. ADAS is divided into parts: - the ADAS UI, the graphical interface, mobile app for Android phones that provides EV drivers with routing and navigation capabilities, customized for EVs. At the beginning, the app requests certain information to the driver (e.g. the car model) and origin and destination of its trip. The ADAS shows different routing options based on green, fast and shortest route; - the ADAS AI, the smart routing engine that collects the input from the app, from the environment of the vehicle (charging stations location, max. power capacity, renewable %, route elevation, etc) and from the car itself (range, past charging modes) and generates the routing options. b) the analysis of the continuous usage of an EV, driver’s behaviour (acceleration), charging modes (slow, fast) is formulated in a charging algorithm, able to calculate the amount of energy needed to reach the next destination, more accurate than the range calculation provided by the vehicle/battery manufacturer (SoC model). At the same time, these variables – among others – are considered for analysing the behaviour (possible degradation) of the battery due to charging processes, creating recommendations for a “healthier” way of charging. c) Using the SoC model, the ELECTRIFIC Smart Scheduler in its 1st version was delivered within this period. d) ELECTRIFIC is able to incentivize users to charge when more renewables are available. The incentives schema has been defined during this period and tested, and will be further developed during the next. However, the calculation of the actual REN % available in the grid and in the charging stations cannot be accurate due to the lack of data. e) In this period, we demonstrated how a charging station can be reactive to possible grid issues. On the one hand, thanks to predictions of power demand from the DSO, the CS can ensure the needed power availability. On the other hand, the CS can react in real-time to issues coming from the grid side once the charging process is being performed (ELECTRIFIC Smart Charger). f) Through surveys and field trials (eco-button trial and ADAS trial) we analysed which kind on incentives schemas should be defined in order to foster users’ behaviour towards a more sustainable mobility. In addition, user profiling variables have been identified.
ELECTRIFIC approach is holistic. It provides solutions for all the players of the emobility ecosystem, collaborating among them for a more attractive and sustainable system. During the project we face situations that confirms that the emobility ecosystem is not actually ready for a very high adoption of EVs in the market: Part (most) of the charging stations cannot be booked (and for those who support booking, only 24 hours in advance is possible and the actual availability is not 100% ensured), grid operators are not aware of the impact of the charging in their network, necessary measuring infrastructure is not in place, data is not open (e.g. charging station location and characteristics), battery health is not considered, % of renewables is not considered, etc. ELECTRIFIC tries to create awareness of these problems and provides solutions by delivering easy-to-use tools. First of all, we provide EV users with more precise information about their battery status. Understanding how different factors impacts the battery life and range (driving mode, type of route, charging process) they can decide how to optimize the usage of their batteries, and therefore make EVs more attractive with respect to financial investment. At the same time, ELECTRIFIC offers the opportunity of charging in cheaper conditions or even for free - if local renewable sources are available. Finally, by informing about location of charging stations and their availability, the anxiety related to uncertainties-to-be-able-to-charge are minimized. On the grid side, EV charging is expected to have a big impact in the grid stability, but centralized control of the grid status turns unmanageable and extremely expensive. The situation will be even more complicated when charging will mainly occur at homes. ELECTRIFIC decentralizes the control of the grid by inserting control intelligence at charging station level. Thanks to the Smart Scheduler, charging stations will be able to react to grid issues, helping the grid to recover. Moreover, if a vehicle is actually being charged the battery will not be harmed by possible fluctuations due to these grid problems. Therefore, the benefit is triple: Grid stability, battery health and charging station power availability. When it comes to EV fleets, they should profit of these optimizations when charging their resources. Therefore, the Smart Scheduler facilitates a charging schedule taking into account vehicles service constraints together with variables such as dynamic pricing, power contracted capacity, SoC and power quality.