Impacts of Residential EV Chargers on the Low Voltage Distribution Network

The large-scale introduction of electric vehicles (EV) will introduce several challenges and impacts on the distribution network. EV uptake will result in home EV charging placing additional load on the low voltage distribution network. Modeling the impact this additional load on the network will enable recommendations which can be implemented to ensure the existing distribution infrastructure can provide a quality, reliable and economical supply of electricity to the home. This paper models various EV uptake levels, peak and random charging times on the network using network customer load data and a hypothesized EV charging profile. To ascertain the impact on the network regarding transformer overloading, customer load allocation and network voltage so mitigation recommendations can be made pertaining to customer load allocation, transformer sizing and usage times to combat negative impacts on the network.