CVEI - D5.3 Consumer Charging Trials Report

There are concerns that Plug-in Vehicle (PiV) charging demand may add substantially to the overall demand for electricity, at a time when increasing deployment of renewable supply sources will make supply-demand balancing more difficult. Experience in the early market for PiVs suggests that users tend to charge PiVs in the early evening, when other demands are high. Managed Charging (MC) aims to shift PiV charging load to times when other demands are low (such as overnight) to facilitate better integration of PiV charging demand into the wider energy system, better operation within network constraints, and/or minimisation of network reinforcement costs, and potentially make use of unused renewable supply which may otherwise need to be curtailed. The CVEI Consumer Charging Trials measured the charging behaviours of Mainstream Consumers using BEVs and PHEVs under two forms of MC, and compared with charging behaviours when not participating in an MC scheme. It also measured preferences among Mainstream Consumers for various charging schemes after experience of MC in the trial. The results provide inputs to the CVEI Analytical Framework to allow more accurate prediction of the likely volume and timing of PiV charging by Mainstream Consumers, and the potential impact of MC on UK aggregated PiV charging demand.