Technical Coordination Gap Statement Analysis

Twenty-one (21) Technical Coordination gap statements were identified, which represent 8% of the total number of gap statements.  Pilot Projects and Education are the most frequently occurring gap areas, followed by Bi-directional charging and issues related to utilities, and other topics.  Below, we highlight the types of pilot projects that sources are seeking for VTO leadership on, to help remove constraints and bottlenecks in the NA EVSE supply chain.

• V2G Infrastructure Pilot Projects and Assessments
  • “The focus of the pilots needs to be to demonstrate the economic viability of a vehicle-to-grid infrastructure.  In particular, the pilots need to test and ensure that charging transactions can be resolved, e.g., initiated and completed. Hubject of Germany has already demonstrated the capability to do this.” 
    
  • “In conjunction with this, information on the energy status of the infrastructure needs to be available to optimize charging rates. MOEV has developed software that allows this to take place on a microgrid level.  Implementing this capability at the microgrid level is probably the best approach given the disparity of electricity rates amongst utilities and the high cost of transferring electricity across distances.”
    
  • “It would be beneficial to have research done on how the infrastructure will handle the charging of thousands of EVs at once.  This type of research would quantify the resources available/needed in relation to a given population of EVs and could help determine the ideal ratio of vehicles-to-grid.  Pilot projects have been done using hundreds of vehicles, but a larger pilot program is needed that would cover thousands of vehicles.”
    
  • “In addition to encompassing thousands of vehicles, it would be beneficial to have the V2G pilot project cut across utility territories to help determine what is required to develop a truly national charging infrastructure.  The envisioned pilot would focus on how EVs are pulling energy from the grid and how to best manage this energy flow.”
    
• Off-Board Bi-Directional Charging Pilots
  • “A small-scale V2G pilot project utilizing off-board bidirectional inverter/chargers was completed by the Los Angeles Air Force Base beginning in 2013, but was too small to demonstrate the commercial viability of V2G.  Now, a larger pilot program is needed to encourage broader support and engagement.”

• More Engagement with Utilities, Especially with Regard to V2G
  • (Some) “Utilities do not appear to support, and even delay (thru cost and technology barriers) bi-directional energy flow infrastructure pilots from getting off the ground.  [For example …] from the outset, [in DOD Pilot that involved Air Force and Army bases in California, Texas and Maryland as well as the PJM Market, EV OEMs and utilities] … utilities were unwilling to change the way they do business and their approach made the project so costly that it wasn’t viable. Participants in the pilot soon realized that the rates utilities were charging combined with their reluctance to accept new approaches made for an unprofitable business.”
    
  • “The utilities involved in the pilot as well as utilities in general have proven to be reluctant to accept new generation devices and insist on charging exorbitant prices for electricity and related services.”
    
  • “It might be helpful for the VTO to initiate a pilot project that would assess the best means for communication between utilities, EVs, chargers and charging networks.  There are a variety of solutions currently available and an assessment needs to be done to determine which solution offers the means to serve the largest percentage of the market.”

North American (NA) Light Duty Electric Vehicle (LDEV) Supplier Equipment Market and Supply Chain Gap Report (2019)

Introduction

Gap Analysis

Final Recommendations and Conclusions