A new proposition for smart charging at home

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

M.C. de Koning Industrial Design Engineering

Contributors

S.C. Mooij Responsible Marketing and Consumer Behavior (mentor)
E. Van Beek Human Factors (graduation committee member)
Faculty
Industrial Design Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering
Copyright: © 2022 Mare de Koning
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Published Date

25-11-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Industrial Design Engineering

Abstract

Electric vehicles, electric cooking, heating installations running on electricity; the future is electric. This electrification creates a continuously growing demand of electricity. However, the electricity grid network is not able to transport these amounts of electricity and is facing problems. Part of the problem is created by charging electric vehicles (EV’s) which creates high peak demand on the local grid network. The challenge is to find better ways to charge these vehicles, especially in the future. This is what smart charging needs to do. Smart charging is adapting the time and or velocity of a charging session.

The main challenge addressed in this project is: How can Vattenfall offer a valuable smart charging proposition to enable EV drivers to use smart charging at home?

Three interesting scenarios of smart charging are found: simple scheduled charging using time-of-use (TOU) tariffs, charging to maximize local solar power production, or charging using Direct Load Control (DLC), in which the supplier of the solution can steer the charging session according to real-time data.

In comparison to other competitors in smart charging solutions, Vattenfall has the ability to influence energy tariffs, which was also something recognized by consumers during interviews. Also, there are currently no relevant TOU tariffs available. Therefore, the development of a smart charging proposition primarily focused on the design of new TOU tariffs. In addition, consumer preference towards all three smart charging scenarios is investigated. The challenge is to design an implementation roadmap that incorporates these various scenarios of smart charging.

Two interesting TOU tariffs were developed. Tariff Short Peak is a tariff with a peak price between 19h to 21h. The peak price should discourage people from using electricity during that time period - e.g. avoid to charge the car. The other tariff - called Daytime Plunge - offers a low price during the night and during the day from 11h - 17h, when solar power usually peaks and wholesale energy prices are usually low. Interviews to investigate desirability of both tariffs reveal that interest in these tariffs vary among consumers, and is partly determined by the financial advantage, but also by the type of consumer and their personal needs and routines. This variety in types of consumer and their preferences resulted in four different persona’s that show the diversity of people among EV drivers. The size of these persona groups and preference among these groups for one of the two tariffs give insight in the order and pacing in which these tariffs should be introduced.

Next to the development of new TOU tariffs, it was found that giving a financial incentive for the other two scenarios of smart charging, namely charging using DLC and using your own solar power, interests EV drivers. An implementation roadmap brings together the introduction of new tariffs, DLC and solar compensation, with the customer groups and plots them into three horizons. Each horizon introduces a vision relevant for Vattenfall to determine the focus of smart charging for that period.