Abstract
Vehicle–grid integration (VGI) uses the interaction between electric vehicles and the electrical grid to provide benefits that may include reducing the cost of using intermittent renwable electricity or providing a financial incentive for electric vehicle ownerhip. However, studies that estimate the value of VGI benefits have largely ignored how consumer behaviour will affect the magnitude of the impact. Here, we simulate the long-term impact of VGI using behaviourally realistic and empirically derived models of vehicle adoption and charging combined with an electricity system model. We focus on the case where a central entity manages the charging rate and timing for participating electric vehicles. VGI is found not to increase the adoption of electric vehicles, but does have a a small beneficial impact on electricity prices. By 2050, VGI reduces wholesale electricity prices by 0.6–0.7% (0.7 $ MWh–1, 2010 CAD) relative to an equivalent scenario without VGI. Excluding consumer behaviour from the analysis inflates the value of VGI.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
California Vehicle-Grid Integration (VGI) Roadmap: Enabling Vehicle-Based Grid Services (California Independent System Operator, 2014).
Sovacool, B. K., Axsen, J. & Kempton, W. The future promise of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration: a sociotechnical review and research agenda. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 42, 377–406 (2017).
Kempton, W. & Tomić, J. Vehicle-to-grid power implementation: From stabilizing the grid to supporting large-scale renewable energy. J. Power Sources 144, 280–294 (2005).
Kempton, W. & Letendre, S. E. Electric vehicles as a new power source for electric utilities. Transp. Res. D. 2, 157–175 (1997).
Letendre, S. E. & Kempton, W. The V2G concept: a new model for power? Public Utilities Fortnightly 16–26 (15 February 2002).
Peng, M., Liu, L. & Jiang, C. A review on the economic dispatch and risk management of the large-scale plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs)-penetrated power systems. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 16, 1508–1515 (2012).
Lund, H. & Kempton, W. Integration of renewable energy into the transport and electricity sectors through V2G. Energy Policy 36, 3578–3587 (2008).
Dallinger, D., Gerda, S. & Wietschel, M. Integration of intermittent renewable power supply using grid-connected vehicles: a 2030 case study for California and Germany. Appl. Energy 104, 666–682 (2013).
Hajimiragha, A., Cañizares, C. A., Fowler, M. W. & Elkamel, A. Optimal transition to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Ontario, Canada, considering the electricity-grid limitations. IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron. 57, 11 (2010).
Madzharov, D., Delarue, E. & D’Haeseleer, W. Integrating electric vehicles as flexible load in unit commitment modeling. Energy 65, 285–294 (2014).
Abdulkadir, B., Ogden, J. M. & Yang, C. Quantifying the Economic Value of Vehicle-Grid Integration: A Case Study of Dynamic Pricing in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, 2015).
Tomić, J. & Kempton, W. Using fleets of electric-drive vehicles for grid support. J. Power Sources 168, 459–468 (2007).
Sioshansi, R. & Denholm, P. The value of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as grid resources. Energy J. 31, 1–23 (2010).
Richardson, D. B. Electric vehicles and the electric grid: a review of modeling approaches, Impacts, and renewable energy integration. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 19, 247–254 (2013).
Dallinger, D. & Wietschel, M. Grid integration of intermittent renewable energy sources using price-responsive plug-in electric vehicles. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 16, 3370–3382 (2012).
Lyon, T. P., Michelin, M., Jongejan, A. & Leahy, T. Is “smart charging” policy for electric vehicles worthwhile? Energy Policy 41, 259–268 (2012).
Weis, A., Michalek, J. J., Jaramillo, P. & Lueken, R. Emissions and cost implications of controlled electric vehicle charging in the U.S. PJM interconnection. Environ. Sci. Technol. 49, 5813–5819 (2015).
Sovacool, B. K., Noel, L., Axsen, J. & Kempton, W. The neglected social dimensions to a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) transition. Environ. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa9c6d (2017).
Weis, A., Jaramillo, P. & Michalek, J. Estimating the potential of controlled plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging to reduce operational and capacity expansion costs for electric power systems with high wind penetration. Appl. Energy 115, 190–204 (2014).
Druitt, J. & Früh, W.-G. Simulation of demand management and grid balancing with electric vehicles. J. Power Sources 216, 104–116 (2012).
Sovacool, B. K. & Hirsh, R. F. Beyond batteries: an examination of the benefits and barriers to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) transition. Energy Policy 37, 1095–1103 (2009).
Axsen, J. & Kurani, K. S. Connecting plug-in vehicles with green electricity through consumer demand. Environ. Res. Lett. 8, 1–8 (2013).
Bailey, J. & Axsen, J. Anticipating PEV buyers’ acceptance of utility controlled charging. Transp. Res. A 82, 29–46 (2015).
Parsons, G., Hidrue, M., Kempton, W. & Gardner, W. Willingness to pay for vehicle to grid (V2G) electric vehicles and their contact terms. Energy Econ. 42, 313–324 (2014).
Daina, N., Sivakumar, A. & Polak, J. W. Electric vehicle charging choices: modelling and implications for smart charging services. Transp. Res. C. 81, 36–56 (2017).
Latinopoulos, C., Sivakumar, A. & Polak, J. W. Response of electric vehicle drivers to dynamic pricing of parking and charging services: risky choice in early reservations. Transp. Res. C. 80, 175–189 (2017).
Daina, N. Modelling Electric Vehicle Use and Charging Behaviour PhD thesis, Imperial College London (2014).
Axsen, J., Bailey, J. & Castro, M. A. Preference and lifestyle heterogeneity among potential plug-in electric vehicle buyers. Energy Econ. 50, 190–201 (2015).
Axsen, J. et al. Electrifying Vehicles: Insights from the Canadian Plug-in Electric Vehicle Study (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, 2015).
Wolinetz, M. & Axsen, J. How policy can build the plug-in electric vehicle market: Insights from the REspondent-based Preference And Constraints (REPAC) model. Technol. Forecast. Social. Chang. 117, 238–250 (2017).
MarketInsight: Registrations and Vehicles-in-Operation (IHS Markit, 2016).
November 2013 Integrated Resource Plan (BC Hydro, 2013).
Behboodi, S., Chassin, D. P., Djilali, N. & Crawford, C. Interconnection-wide hour-ahead scheduling in the presence of intermittent renewables and demand response: a surplus maximizing approach. Appl. Energy 189, 336–351 (2017).
Hoke, A., Brisette, A., Smith, K., Pratt, A. & Maksimovic, D. Accounting for lithium-ion battery degradation in electric vehicle charging optimization. IEEE J. Emerg. Sel. Top. Power Electron. 2, 10 (2014).
Bishop, J. D. K. et al. Evaluating the impact of V2G services on the degradation of batteries in PHEV and EV. Appl. Energy 111, 206–218 (2013).
Climate Action Plan (Government of British Columbia, 2008).
Clean Energy Vehicles for British Columbia (New Car Dealers of BC, 2016); http://www.cevforbc.ca/
Leach, A., Adams, A., Cairns, S., Coady, L. & Lambert, G. Climate Leadership, Report to the Minister (Alberta Government, 2015); https://www.alberta.ca/documents/climate/climate-leadership-report-to-minister.pdf
Train, K. Discrete Choice Models with Simulation 2nd edition (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Natural Resources Canada, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), the Government of British Columbia, BC Hydro and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Thank you to S. Behboodi from the University of Victoria for his valuable support, and to M. Castro for her assistance regarding choice of modelling approaches.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
M.W. and J.A. developed the REPAC model, designed and conducted the analysis and co-wrote the paper. J.P. developed the IESD model and its link to the other models. C.C. participated in the study design and edited the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Notes 1–2, Supplementary Tables 1–5, Supplementary Fig. 1, Supplementary References
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wolinetz, M., Axsen, J., Peters, J. et al. Simulating the value of electric-vehicle–grid integration using a behaviourally realistic model. Nat Energy 3, 132–139 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0077-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0077-9
This article is cited by
-
Sustainable plug-in electric vehicle integration into power systems
Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering (2024)
-
Flexible electric vehicle charging and its role in variable renewable energy integration
Environmental Systems Research (2023)
-
Charging infrastructure access and operation to reduce the grid impacts of deep electric vehicle adoption
Nature Energy (2022)
-
An open tool for creating battery-electric vehicle time series from empirical data, emobpy
Scientific Data (2021)
-
Modelling the user variable
Nature Energy (2018)