EV Smart Charging: What It is and Why It's Good for EV Drivers
Smart charging provides a way for electric vehicle charging to cost less money. With electricity demand and prices rising all the time, this is something every EV owner should explore.
In this definition, we'll show you what EV smart charging is, how it can optimize energy consumption, and how you can use it to save your bank account and the earth at the same time.
What is smart EV charging?
When a vehicle is "smart charging EV", the charger communicates with the automobile, charging operator, and utility company through data links. When you plug in your EV, the charger gives them data to maximise charging and energy use.
Smart charging allows the charging operator (a homeowner with a charger or a business owner with many stations) to regulate how much electricity to deliver a plugged-in EV. The quantity consumed depends on how many people are consuming power. If the demand is too high, power delivery is lowered, thus reducing grid pressure.
Smart charging protects operators from exceeding their building's maximum energy capacity, as specified by local grid capacity and energy pricing. Smart charging also lets utilities restrict energy use. This prevents the overuse of the grid's electricity.
How do smart EV charging stations work?
Controlling the power, timing, and direction of individual charging sessions is how smart charging works. Smart charging also takes into account the requirements of the customer and the vehicle, the limitations of the infrastructure, the amount of renewable energy generated, the costs of electricity, and the conditions of the grid.
EV smart charging works through a few specific techniques.
Load balancing
Load balancing is a term used in the context of smart charging, and it refers to the process of distributing power between different charging stations. This can apply to those who operate multiple charging stations at the same location, as well as those who operate a single charging station with dual sockets in their home. The operation of a charging station necessitates the use of a power source (such as an office building) that can carry the combined total of the capacity of these charging stations.
It proportionately distributes the capacity among all the current charging stations through the use of load balancing. By doing so, it ensures that optimal charging is offered to all electric vehicles at the site, within the confines of the capacity of your station.
Hub & Satellite
Another crucial component of smart charging is the hub-satellite capability, which allows users to manage many charging stations from a single physical location. The hub-satellite function is a straightforward way to gather data coming from all charging stations under a single piece of cloud-based charging management software (CMS), which helps users save both time and effort.
In order for the CMS to function as intended, it is necessary for each charging station to relay data to its system. The charging points can be formed into a network so that they share a modem. This reduces the complexity of the smart charging system and makes management easier.
Peak Shaving
Peak shaving is a way of avoiding energy usage spikes in your home or at a charging station. A simple way to understand this is to think of the total energy consumption of your home. If all the appliances are running and then you plug in your electric car, you could overwhelm your home's energy grid.
You may avoid this with the aid of peak shaving. As soon as the charging station detects that you are getting close to reaching the station's maximum capacity, it will automatically lower the amount of power consumed during a charging session or even suspend the sessions entirely until there is enough power available.
The benefits of intelligent charging
Cost savings
Smart charging can help drivers save money by allowing them to charge their vehicles at the most cost-effective periods. There are several energy suppliers that provide rates that lower the fee during different times of the day.
For instance, many drivers in the UK are familiar with Economy 7 pricing. These contracts for energy give seven hours of the day during which there is a decreased demand for electricity and the cost of utilising power during these periods is lower.
Smart charging for electric vehicles can also save money by reducing the amount of power delivered to the battery when it is almost completely charged. This minimises the needless charging and usage of electricity that would otherwise occur when the increase in driving range is minor.
Environmental benefits
You will help the environment by automatically adjusting the scheduling of your charging event. We may optimise the charging event to take place during times of low energy usage, which not only results in cost savings but also contributes to the overall balance of the grid.
As the number of people who drive electric vehicles (EVs) continues to rise, there will be a greater demand in the future for increased adaptability. It is even possible for energy providers to start providing financial incentives to drivers of electric vehicles to encourage them to charge with less power, schedule their charging events to take place during times of low consumption or make it possible for their car batteries to be temporarily used as power reserves.
Cooperating to reduce carbon emissions and power demand will ultimately reduce the need for more electricity generation.
Balancing grid demand
Business owners who provide electric vehicles smart charging can use it to cooperate with energy companies. Together, they can optimise energy consumption to ease the demand on the grid. A fully connected EV charging ecosystem can make more power available to stations with higher demand while reducing power dedicated to systems where the demand is lower.
Most Relevant Smart Charging Features
Power Sharing
Power Sharing, which is also frequently referred to as load balancing or levelling, is a function that enables network operators or enterprises that have numerous chargers on-site to equally balance the available energy capacity across all active EV charging stations. Because the amount of electricity that is accessible at each location is finite, an increase in the demand for energy would often necessitate costly changes to the electrical infrastructure. Smart charging makes it possible to avoid these kinds of infrastructure updates by making sure that electricity is delivered in the most efficient way possible.
Dynamic Load Management
Dynamic load management (DLM) is a core part of smart charging. DLM occurs when the smart charging platform divides the available power between different needs. For example, a small charging station with 4-6 connections attached to a hotel could use DLM. When the hotel is consuming large amounts of power, the available power at the EV chargers could be reduced. The reverse could occur when the chargers require more power and the hotel is consuming less.
Summary
There are just a few key points here to remember:
- EV Smart charging connects your car to the charging point and the energy company.
- The connection is used to manage energy demand, saving money for EV owners.
- In a broader sense, smart chargers can help with the energy management of the entire grid.
The average EV owner will probably use charge scheduling and peak shaving as their primary tools of smart charging. These are a great start and will immediately contribute to lower costs.
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