August 2020

Around the world, consumers and utilities are considering how to broaden electric transportation adoption and use. While sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to fall this year as a result of COVID-19, transportation electrification is projected to accelerate long term, pointing to the importance of investing in reliable charging infrastructure today. This issue of Efficient Electrification explores several aspects of EV charging infrastructure:

• A new EPRI project to help utilities plan, design, and implement strategic EV infrastructure programs that support customers in adopting, operating, and charging EVs

• A new EPRI initiative to develop the tools and resources needed for rapid expansion of EV fleet charging infrastructure

• Efforts by U.S. cities to pilot electric transit buses and test various charging facility configurations

• Preliminary standards for electric bus charging infrastructure

• A new technology that integrates and manages EV charging, rooftop solar, storage, and energy use in homes and businesses

• The state of the technology of electric trucks and other commercial and industrial EVs

Stay safe, stay healthy, and thank you for your continued collaboration.

CONNECT WITH US THIS FALLOn October 19-23, join us for EPRI’s Electrification Virtual Summit—a forum for industry stakeholders to reconnect and continue work on the adoption of end-use electrification solutions. Much more than a series of webinars, the summit will offer opportunities for extended networking, interactive sessions, and educational and informational exchanges.

EFFICIENT ELEC TRIFIC ATION

IN THIS ISSUE• ELECTRIFICATION NEWS SPOTLIGHT

• SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT

• FEATURE

• ELECTRIFICATION INNOVATION

• ELECTRIFICATION IN THE NEWS

Around the world, utilities are considering how to broaden their role in electric transportation. A utility that plans effectively for an influx of electric vehicles (EV) could yield enormous benefits for the grid, utility customers, and society. For example, by supporting a reliable EV charging network, providing convenient charging locations, and managing the load effectively, utilities can optimize use of grid assets, lower electricity costs for customers, and promote cleaner air for society. They can also potentially discover new opportunities to meet the needs of business and residential consumers.

EPRI has launched a new project to help utilities plan, design, and implement strategic, customer-focused EV infrastructure programs. The project, called Electric Transportation Infrastructure Program Support, enables utilities to effectively support their residential, commercial, and industrial customers in adopting, operating, and charging EVs. Successful utility programs can help regions meet ambitious electrification goals and decarbonization targets while expanding a new pool of grid-friendly energy resources.

“Utilities are increasingly seeking expertise to help them design programs to deploy EV charging infrastructure,” said Dan Bowermaster, who manages EPRI’s Electric Transportation research program. “We have launched this project because our utility members have asked us for help in this area. Why should a utility engage with EPRI? We have long-running relationships with utilities and other power industry stakeholders across the United States.

These relationships are built on more than two decades of EPRI research results spanning the full spectrum of EV issues. Through our industry network, EPRI can aggregate lessons and best practices to inform the best designs for new utility EV programs. This new project broadens the value that we can provide the industry above and beyond our collaborative research, development, and demonstration of new and emerging technologies.”

EPRI technical experts can assist utilities at four stages:

• Roadmapping: It’s essential to consider the unique characteristics of the local EV market when designing an EV infrastructure program. In this stage, EPRI will delve into these characteristics. What are the best EV market opportunities in a particular utility service area? Light-duty, medium-duty short-haul, heavy-duty short-haul, or transit fleet vehicles? Or some combination of those market segments? Examining various data sources, the EPRI team will quantify the current EV market and project future EV volumes, charging load, and environmental benefits such as emissions reductions and reduced petroleum use. EPRI also will evaluate key drivers of and barriers to expanded EV use (such as governmental policies and incentives), costs and benefits associated with each EV market segment, and a utility’s existing resources and capabilities that can be tapped to participate in the market.

ELECTRIFICATION NEWS SPOTLIGHTHow Can Utilities Be a Part of the Electric Vehicle Revolution? EPRI Can Help Answer This Question

• Assessing a utility’s strategic EV market role and associated program design: In this stage, EPRI will examine the pros and cons of the potential paths a utility could pursue in supporting the local or regional EV market. Questions that will be investigated include: Should the utility fully fund the deployment of all the necessary infrastructure, including the charging equipment and the grid upgrades? Or should the utility share the costs with other stakeholders? Should the utility own and operate the charging stations or partner with charging providers? What potential financial incentives, outreach, education, and other actions are needed to support EV adoption by utility customers? What are the guiding principles and best practices for the various paths? What additional capabilities and resources will the utility need?

• Developing the program: Drawing on the findings from the first two phases, EPRI will develop the specific elements and services that comprise the program, including infrastructure deployment and operation, customer education, and other interactions with customers. The EPRI team will work with the utility to help identify potential suppliers and vendors, such as charging equipment manufacturers, meter manufacturers, and construction companies. (The utility is responsible for selecting

these stakeholders.) The EPRI team also will help the utility identify nongovernmental organizations and other partners that can offer helpful perspectives regarding the program.

• Implementing the program: In this phase, EPRI can help the utility implement the various program elements. This includes determining how to track program performance, streamline processes, inform stakeholders on results, and refine the program accordingly.

Utilities of all sizes and at all stages of EV program planning can benefit from EPRI’s help. Programs can be developed for investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and utility cooperatives.

“If utilities implement successful electric transportation programs, it benefits everyone,” said EPRI’s Bowermaster. “It’s good for the utility and society because widespread EV adoption can promote a cleaner transportation sector, enable more efficient use of grid assets, and enhance grid operations. And it’s a win for the customer, who gets a better car, cheaper fuel, and cleaner air.”

For more information on designing EV customer programs, please contact EPRI’s Dan Bowermaster (dbowermaster@epri.com, 650-855-8524).

Communities around the world are embracing decarbonization goals to improve air quality and address climate change. Recognizing the importance of transportation electrification in reaching these goals, EPRI has launched a two-year, $5-million Fleet Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Initiative to develop the tools and resources needed for rapid expansion of fleet charging infrastructure. A new working group on EPRI’s Board of Directors is providing strategic guidance to EPRI regarding the initiative.

The initiative builds on EPRI’s comprehensive Electric Transportation program, which has more than three decades of research experience. It is augmented by EPRI’s Infrastructure Working Council and Bus and Truck Working Council. These public councils bring together utilities, electric vehicle manufacturers, charging station companies, and other stakeholders to identify and address challenges inhibiting large-scale deployment of electric transportation, with the former focused on light-duty vehicles and the latter on heavy-duty vehicles.

“Transportation offers an important opportunity for decarbonization because it has a significant carbon footprint, and the total cost of ownership for electric vehicles is near parity with vehicles powered by internal combustion engines,” said Rob Chapman, EPRI’s vice president of electrification and sustainable energy strategy. “However, internal combustion vehicles remain appealing to many customers, pointing to a critical need to address barriers to adoption of electric transportation.”

Charging a bus, truck, or van fleet can present logistical and technical challenges. Consider a municipality or delivery company that needs 1,000 vehicles charged overnight and ready for daily routes by morning. “You need a significant amount of power at a centralized location, but only at night,” said Chapman. “It might be the equivalent of a large industrial load like a steel manufacturer. But while a steel manufacturer may operate continually 24-7, the charging station consumes most of its power at night. Without adequate tools, a utility may be asked to build a great deal of infrastructure that is used for relatively few hours per day.”

In many cases, utility investments in new substations, upgraded power lines, and other grid infrastructure may be needed to enable fleet charging. But if those costs get passed on to fleet operators, it can make the cost of electrification prohibitive. Before a company invests in an electric fleet, it would need to know the infrastructure needs and associated costs.

“EPRI is examining ways to enable affordable charging infrastructure for utility customers that want to electrify their fleets, while efficiently using grid resources to serve fleet needs,” said Chapman.

The Fleet Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Initiative has three focus areas:

1. Utility customer planning tools: Utilities need information about a proposed fleet’s power needs and timing of charging to determine

New Collaborative Initiative Develops Tools and Resources to Facilitate Fleet Electrification

The City of Columbus, Ohio manages a fleet of 200 EVs. Photo courtesy of the City of Columbus.

necessary grid upgrades and opportunities to support grid operations and planning. To make informed decisions about where to locate charging stations, fleet operators need to know the cost and time required for those upgrades.

EPRI recently completed a prototype tool to calculate a fleet’s potential grid infrastructure needs. Historically, fleet feasibility studies have sometimes over-estimated these costs due to a lack of supporting information and a limited understanding of the fleet’s expected load. EPRI designed the tool to assess loads more precisely. The user inputs the type and number of vehicles in the fleet, battery sizes, daily route distances, and the number and power level of the chargers. Based on these inputs, the tool calculates the total number of charging hours required each day, peak power consumption, and total electricity use—outputs that help utilities more accurately evaluate grid infrastructure costs. In May, EPRI demonstrated the tool’s features and its potential practicality for utilities and fleet operators. The next step is to develop a beta-version that utilities can test with their customers. Long term, EPRI may add new features such as calculating fleet charging rates.

2. Interoperability: Widespread deployment of fleet charging infrastructure requires interoperable equipment. For example, if a charging equipment provider goes out of business and its technology is not interoperable with other equipment, fleet operators end up with obsolete assets. EPRI is collaborating with utilities and other

stakeholders to support interoperability across charging hardware, charge management systems, and communication networks.

“The idea is that any brand of electric bus will work with any brand of compatible charger right out of the box,” said John Halliwell, an EPRI technical executive and expert on EV charging infrastructure. “Our initial focus is identifying gaps and challenges related to interoperability. These include application of standards and development of testing protocols needed for standards compliance.”

3. Resiliency: Whether it’s tornados in the Midwest or hurricanes in Florida, severe weather has the potential to disrupt fleet charging. After events like these, packages still need to be delivered, and bus drivers need to pick up passengers. To prevent interruptions of operations, electric fleets require robust resiliency strategies. For example, a dramatic increase in the number of charging facilities in a region could result in more distribution circuits, pointing to the importance of careful circuit design. Another important consideration is backup power. While some fleet owners may install diesel generators for backup power at charging stations, solar-powered backup energy storage could offer a more reliable, less polluting option. EPRI expects to develop resiliency planning guidelines that account for regional differences.

For more details, contact EPRI’s Rob Chapman (rchapman@epri.com, 650-855-7972).

Trucks, trucks, and more trucks. That was a big theme at the 2019 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (ACT Expo) in Long Beach, California, recounts EPRI Technical Executive Mark Kosowski, an expert on electric transportation for the commercial and industrial sectors. The annual trade show features the advanced fuels, technologies, and vehicles driving the future of transportation.

A few examples of advanced technologies on display: heavy-duty (greater than 26,000 pounds) electric trucks; semi tractors (units that haul freight-carrying trailers) with large square batteries attached where gas tanks would be on diesel versions; medium-duty (10,001 to 26,000 pounds) moving trucks with a driving range of 200 miles; and all-electric refuse trucks.

Each year, Kosowski attends the ACT Expo to learn about the latest technology developments in commercial and industrial electric transportation. A recent EPRI report authored by Kosowski distills key insights from the event and other sources regarding the state of the technology.

A Rapidly Expanding Market

While the market for commercial and industrial electric vehicles has been active for years, it is accelerating today, driven by technology innovation and electrification in other sectors.

“I expect that initially electric trucks for use by the commercial and industrial sectors will be short-haul models that return to a depot to charge,” said Kosowski. “When truck batteries can store more energy and the public infrastructure is built out, I expect more long-haul trucks to be available.”

The recently published EPRI report describes electric trucks, dump trucks, school buses, water vessels, aircrafts, and chargers that are in use today or being tested. It also examines developments with electric fleets and other electrification opportunities.

“When I went to my first ACT Expo in 2017, there were basically no electric vehicles. Most of the technology on display was compressed natural gas,” he said. “At the 2018 Expo, transit bus manufacturers such as Proterra and New Flyer presented electric models. In 2019, there were electric school buses, medium-duty trucks, and heavy-duty trucks made by many companies including Peterbilt, Daimler, and Nikola.”

At the 2019 ACT Expo, numerous manufacturers generated excitement by bringing heavy- and medium-duty trucks. For example, Daimler brought its eCascadia and eM2 models. Penske Truck Leasing has been testing the heavy-duty eCascadia, which can get 250 miles out of a

charge. The medium-duty eM2 can go 200 miles on a charge and takes an hour for an 80% charge—a moderate improvement over truck prototypes developed in recent years.

Kosowski saw a lot of potential in the eM2’s chassis because it can be used to assemble various equipment and provide a platform for customization. “This chassis could be used for many other applications such as refuse trucks,” he said. “Many manufacturers presented new developments with their all-electric chassis at the 2019 Expo, though none are in production yet.”

Mack exhibited a medium-duty refuse-collection truck slated for testing in New York City in 2020. Because it’s much quieter than diesel models, it can potentially be used at night. Peterbilt brought a semi-tractor lined with six battery packs, three on each side of the vehicle. The batteries can store 352 kilowatt-hours and provide a range of up to 250 miles. While this is an improvement on prior models, Kosowski said that truck batteries need to provide 1.2 megawatt-hours and a minimum range of 500 miles to compete with diesel, which can get up to 2,000 miles on a full tank.

Thomas Built, Lion Electric, and Blue Bird exhibited school buses with ranges around 120 miles. Also presented was an all-electric ferry that transports seven million passengers per year between Norway and Sweden. It makes the 2.5-mile trip 46 times a day. At each port, a robotic arm charges the ferry’s 640 kilowatt-hour lithium ion batteries for the next trip, taking five minutes in Denmark and nine in Sweden.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHTThe Electric Truck Wave Is Coming

A Peterbilt electric semi-truck at the 2019 ACT Expo. Photo courtesy of Mark Kosowski, EPRI.

Other topics in the report include:

• The Volocopter, a two-passenger helicopter with a 17-mile range. Based on drone technology, the helicopter has a dozen small rotors that provide vertical lift. Robots will swap its batteries before each trip.

• Developments with 17 electric fleets in companies, municipal transit agencies, airports, delivery services, and other organizations around the world. For example, Anheuser-Busch plans to use 21 battery-electric BYD trucks to transport beer between production and distribution facilities in southern California. The company is installing charging infrastructure at four sites.

• An overview of a new charging station with an integrated battery manufactured by Heliox. By receiving and storing a constant low flow of grid power, the system can deliver energy to buses and trucks with less grid capacity and lower peak demand charges relative to traditional charging. “The consumer doesn’t have to pay as much for the electricity,” said Kosowski. “This is the first commercial charger that comes with a battery pack.”

“Many prototypes and testing trucks—known in the industry as generation 1—were exhibited at the 2019 Expo,” he said. “At the next expo, I expect to see models starting commercial production and to learn more about when prototypes will be on the road.”

ACT Expo 2020 has been postponed until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A virtual education series is planned for the fall.

For more details on commercial and industrial electric transportation, contact EPRI’s Mark Kosowski (mkosowski@epri.com, 248-421-7124).

Daimler eM2 electric truck at the 2019 ACT Expo. Photo courtesy of Mark Kosowski, EPRI.

A transformation is underway in New York City’s transportation system, though many people may not have noticed. Since 2018, a pilot fleet of ten battery-powered electric buses has been transporting passengers along routes such as 42nd Street. The quiet, zero-emission vehicles are part of a plan to convert the city’s 5,800 buses to electric.

The collaborative project between EPRI and the New York City Transit Authority aims to inform a phased electrification strategy, with 15 buses delivered in 2020 and another 45 currently in the process of being purchased. In January, EPRI reported on lessons learned and experiences in the project.

“We analyzed on-route charging and charging at depots after shifts, considering control strategies, electrical service impacts, and local grid impacts,” said Mark Kosowski, an expert on commercial and industrial transportation at EPRI.

New York is not alone. According to an EPRI study published in August 2019, more than 150 electric transit bus pilots or programs are underway in the United States. Examples include Louisville, Kentucky, Seattle, Boston, and Chicago. Each municipality is customizing its pilot to fit its own needs.

“Different agencies are looking for different outcomes from their pilot programs,” said Danny Ilioiu, who manages transit fleet electrification at King County Metro, which serves Seattle, Washington.

Some agencies are comparing the mileage of different technologies, some are examining various configurations of routes and charging facilities, and some seek to reduce air pollution in historically underserved areas.

“We’re deploying electric buses in south King County earlier than in other parts of the county. The south has historically been a fairly industrial area,” said Ilioiu. “This is where people with the lowest incomes live, and they’re the most affected by air pollution. It makes sense to start our transition to clean energy there.”

Marc Manning, who directs vehicle engineering and acquisition for Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is working on a plan to convert the city’s entire bus network to zero-emission vehicles by 2030. The city’s pilot program will use some 600-kilowatt chargers that have the largest voltage range among commercially available products in the United States. Different sized batteries are charged at different voltages, so a charger with a large range can provide versatility for municipal transit agencies.

Municipal projects to deploy new electric buses, terminals, and charging infrastructure can be complex, requiring consideration of numerous requirements along with involvement of various agencies and organizations. These include architectural requirements of public design commissions; building codes; federal, state, and local street design requirements; National Electric Code requirements; and local utility requirements.

“When cities are planning these projects, they need to engage with their local utilities to determine whether electricity is available for new infrastructure,” said Kosowski. “If existing grid capacity is not sufficient, cities need to coordinate with the utility on grid upgrades.”

“I expect transit buses to be one of the first sectors to be fully electrified,” said Manning. “I think buses will help pave the way for other industries, like heavy-duty trucks.”

The Big Apple

The New York project tested two brands of buses with different charging requirements. Five New Flyer buses with 150 kilowatt-hour batteries ran the 42nd Street route across midtown Manhattan. The other five buses from Proterra use 440 kilowatt-hour batteries and ran routes between Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.

“One important question we were trying to answer was, where do we want depot charging and where do we want on-route charging? Are there characteristics of routes that make one preferable? We also wanted to figure out whether larger or smaller batteries were preferable,” said Kosowski.

FEATURECities “Pave the Way” for Transportation Electrification

A New Flyer electric bus sits under a charging station on 42nd Street in Manhattan.

Before running the buses, the team spent more than six months building depot and on-route charging infrastructure. Construction of three on-route chargers on curbs in Manhattan and Brooklyn required coordination with many city departments. There were engineering challenges. For example, the surface of a steep street section on the East Side of Manhattan had a convex shape—lower near the curbs and higher in the middle of the street. The team had to repave the area so that the bus could make contact with the on-route charger.

The on-route chargers for the New Flyer buses range from 280 to 350 kilowatts depending on the capacity of the local grid circuits. The New Flyer buses used on-route chargers as well as two 60-kilowatt chargers at a bus depot on Manhattan’s West Side. Because the New Flyer buses charge at 800 volts and the Proterra buses at 400 volts, their routes had different brands and sizes of chargers.

The on-route chargers on 42nd Street look like giant modern desklamps. Buses stop underneath, and two long flat conductors are lowered onto the roof of the bus. The ten-minute charge is enough to drive the bus 10 to 12 miles, averaging 3 miles per hour. The bus operator charges several times a day while taking breaks or loading passengers. This charging system uses the new SAE J3105-1 recommended practice for EV charging systems with infrastructure-mounted cross-rail connections. (For more details on the standard, see this newsletter article on the four-year effort by the Society of Automotive Engineers and its Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Conductive Charging Task Force to publish four new recommended practices primarily intended for transit bus charging.)

The Proterra buses had larger batteries than the New Flyer models and were usually charged overnight with one of six 50-kilowatt chargers at the Queens depot. The team built an on-route 500-kilowatt charging system for the Proterra buses in Brooklyn, working with local utility Consolidated Edison to install a transformer needed to connect the system to the grid.

The Brooklyn charging system required coordinating with city agencies to comply with building codes and public and street design requirements. For example, the New York City Transit Authority spent about $500,000 to design and build enclosures for the charging equipment, and the agency integrated street furniture (benches) into the enclosures.

The team tracked driving times and routes and calculated a travel effectiveness metric. This is obtained by dividing the total travel distance by the total time, which includes all driving and charging from the bus’s first charge to the end of its shift. They found that on-route charging with small batteries has a travel effectiveness comparable to that of depot charging with large batteries.

A Proterra electric bus sits under an on-route charger in Brooklyn.

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This map shows the number of electric buses in cities across the country.

Electric Bus Deployments in the United States

Number of buses

The Emerald City

As part of its initiative to convert a fleet of 1,400 diesel-electric hybrid buses to all-electric buses, King County Metro in 2019 assembled a pilot fleet of 10 New Flyer, Proterra, and BYD buses. Two of the New Flyer buses initially did not meet all the agency’s needs due to the battery location.

“We didn’t like the fact that New Flyer buses have batteries inside the passenger seating area,” said Ilioiu. “So we worked with New Flyer to identify a battery technology that could be installed on the roof of the bus.”

King County Metro wanted buses with a driving range of 140 miles so that it could replace its diesel-electric hybrid buses with battery electric models without having to change its routes. Most routes don’t exceed that distance, but some routes are up to 300 miles.

“When we started this effort, we tried to answer a question that often comes up in the industry, which is, can I replace a diesel bus with an electric bus one for one?” said Ilioiu. “That appears to be the case with 70% of our routes. And the other 30% could potentially be satisfied by new battery or charging technology coming out in the next 10 to 15 years.”

The test fleet includes 40-foot buses and 60-foot articulated buses (vehicles with two or more sections connected by pivoting joints), which are operated as demand requires. The agency is arranging chargers in the transit centers such that either type of bus will fit.

King Country Metro also has 174 electric trolley buses that run on a wired grid. The agency might add more trolleys because they are better than the battery electric buses at climbing hills. Expanding the wired grid may also be cheaper than building charging stations in some parts of the network.

Ilioiu said that other transit agencies with electrification plans should keep in mind that while the drivetrain of electric buses may have lower maintenance needs than the drivetrain of diesel buses, the maintenance requirements of other bus systems (such as doors) are comparable across electric and diesel.

“It’s important to partner with the local utility on transit electrification,” said Ilioiu. “They have expertise in high-voltage systems. They have plans for grid upgrades and replacements and

can coordinate with you on those projects. If they’re already planning an upgrade that can work with your new chargers, you might not have to foot the whole upgrade bill.”

The City of Angels

Since 2017, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) has been converting its natural gas–powered Orange and Silver Lines to electric buses with on-route charging. Out of an $88 million budget to convert the Orange Line to electric with 5 BYD and 40 New Flyer buses, the agency spent $14 million to deploy the necessary charging infrastructure.

LA Metro started by equipping the Orange Line’s North Hollywood Station with four 450-kilowatt chargers for on-route charging. The agency also will install up to 10 150-kilowatt depot chargers at its Division 8 maintenance yard.

In the time it has taken to fund and build the North Hollywood depot chargers, technology has advanced enough that LA Metro can now install 600-kilowatt depot chargers (with a larger voltage range) on the Orange Line’s Canoga and Chatsworth stations. The 450-kilowatt chargers work with the New Flyer buses, and the larger chargers can charge both New Flyer and BYD buses.

According to Manning, LA Metro decided to electrify the rapid transit Orange and Silver Lines first because the projects would have the least operational impact and the fewest technical hurdles. Although the Orange Line has to stop for cross-traffic, it has its own dedicated lanes, and buses stop about every mile along its 18-mile route. The Silver Line often uses high-occupancy toll lanes. Other LA Metro lines have a greater tendency to interfere with car traffic, and bus stops often create a line of vehicles behind them.

Converting the fleet will likely require adding grid capacity and navigating space constraints when constructing new infrastructure. As LA Metro switches from natural gas to electricity, it will need to negotiate with utilities on charging rates, said Manning.

City pilot program managers across the U.S. frequently share experiences and lessons learned, helping them navigate unexpected challenges. “One thing you have to expect with electric bus pilots is that there are going to be some unknowns,” said King County Metro’s Ilioiu.

Three electric bus chargers at a park-and-ride in Bellevue, just east of Seattle. Photo courtesy of Danny Ilioiu.

Sunil Chhaya spends a significant amount of his time helping utilities capture the value of distributed energy resources (DER), which include rooftop solar, residential storage, and electric vehicles (EV). “Many utilities are aggressively pursuing ways to use DER to shift load to off-peak times and to provide grid frequency and voltage regulation,” said Chhaya, an EPRI expert on grid integration of EVs and other DER.

With accelerating DER adoption and the emergence of tools to aggregate and manage DER, utilities increasingly see DER as a valuable tool to support grid operations and increase customer satisfaction.

“Initially, utilities focused on integrating DER to do no harm to the grid,” said Chhaya. “Now they are looking at ways to manage DER so that they provide benefits to the grid and meet their customers’ needs.”

One innovative DER integration tool attracting attention from utilities is the Smart Power Integrated Node, or SPIN. Designed for homes and small businesses, SPIN is a single device that simultaneously manages and optimizes solar photovoltaic (PV) energy production, battery storage, EV charging and discharging, and building energy use, eliminating duplication of power electronics.

“The initial value proposition was to simplify the power electronics needed to accommodate solar energy, energy storage, EVs, and other large loads and energy sources deployed at homes and businesses,” said Gregory Smith, one of the former General Motors engineers who founded Flex Power Control, the company that is developing SPIN.

Today, homes and small businesses that install rooftop PV, energy storage, and EV chargers must pay equipment, wiring, and labor costs for three separate electrical installations. There is usually no coordination among the three systems. Additionally, today’s EV charging stations enable power flow in one direction only: from the grid to a vehicle’s batteries.

SPIN combines the functions served by EV chargers and the inverters that convert DC power from rooftop solar and battery storage into AC power for home use and grid export. By making it unnecessary to purchase multiple power electronics devices, SPIN aims to lower the cost of DER for homeowners and businesses. A recent University of Kentucky study found that the use of SPIN shortened the payback period for a residential PV system by three years.

SPIN collects large amounts of data on building energy consumption and uses weather forecasts to predict building loads and solar generation. Based on all this information, analytics optimize home or business use of grid energy, on-site solar production, energy storage, and EV charging to minimize consumer costs. For example, SPIN can automatically use solar generation and discharge batteries during peak demand when grid electricity is expensive. SPIN can disconnect

from the grid during a power outage and deliver electricity from vehicle batteries, other on-site storage, or rooftop solar. As batteries get larger, opportunities to deliver backup power increase.

“Customers typically only drive 30 to 40 miles each day,” said EPRI’s Chhaya. “Today’s vehicles carry larger batteries with a range of up to 400 miles, so they’re usually underutilized and can be used for power outages.”

Additionally, SPIN enables power from EV batteries to be discharged and exported to the distribution grid. “With SPIN, vehicle batteries can potentially provide grid services that earn homeowners and business owners extra income,” said Chhaya.

Flex Power Control is developing analytics and aggregation capabilities that enable the device to control the flow of power from solar, energy storage, and EV batteries to and from the distribution grid. SPIN can aggregate the various energy resources and loads at a home or business so that a utility can control them as a single resource in response to changing grid conditions (such as peak demand). Control over energy use, production, and discharge can lower bills for homeowners and business owners who pay time-of-use electricity rates.

ELECTRIFICATION INNOVATIONA Single Device to Manage Solar, EV Charging, Storage, and Energy Use in Homes and Businesses

An artist’s rendering of information that could be displayed on an app for customers who have installed SPIN. It shows the various energy resources and loads that SPIN monitors and controls. Image courtesy of Flex Power Control.

Developing and Testing Prototypes

EPRI, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the California Energy Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have partnered with Flex Power Control on SPIN’s development. EPRI’s Technology Innovation Program funded work on an early design.

“EPRI was the first to see there was potential in the concept and engaged with us on numerous projects to help develop the technology and evaluate its performance in real-world settings,” said Smith, president and CEO of Flex Power Control.

Since 2016, EPRI has worked with Flex Power Control on five development and demonstration projects. Early projects modeled the potential grid benefits and developed monitoring, communication, and control capabilities.

After initial positive results, DOE funded projects to develop an initial prototype and to test it in a California microgrid along with vehicle-to-grid technologies (devices that enable EVs to transmit power from their batteries to the grid). The prototype was built using commonly available electronics components rather than custom-built parts, and the tests demonstrated that SPIN could control the flow of power.

Based on the results, Flex Power has developed a more advanced prototype with additional functions. The next step is for DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to test various functions, such as fast EV charging, delivering an EV battery’s electricity to the grid, and directing rooftop solar and EV batteries to power a home during an outage.

Can SPIN help utilities reduce peak load? University of Kentucky researchers simulated a feeder with 70 houses, each equipped with SPIN, a 7-kilowatt PV system, a 10-kilowatt-hour energy storage system, and an EV charger. The result: SPIN reduced the feeder’s peak load by 42%. Flex Power plans to examine peak load reductions in field demonstrations.

Other potential utility applications of SPIN include improving system resiliency, providing backup power for the home during severe weather, using excess solar generation to charge EVs, and aggregating and controlling DER.

If SPIN were to become commercially available, who would purchase it—utilities, consumers, or both? “Right now, we don’t know,” said Smith. “If the main value proposition is reducing the consumer’s cost of energy and improving the consumer’s resiliency, then the consumer will buy it. If it can help utilities manage their distribution systems, they may decide to install SPIN across their service territories.”

According to Chhaya, one possible outcome is that homes and businesses install SPIN and utilities assist in those purchases through EV, storage, or PV incentive programs.

For more details on SPIN, contact EPRI’s Sunil Chhaya (schhaya@epri.com, 650-855-2148).

In January 2020, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) published new charging requirements for fleets of buses and other heavy-duty vehicles, culminating a four-year collaborative effort. The “recommended practices” outlined under SAE J-3105 are considered preliminary standards. As municipalities expand their electric vehicle fleets, a standard is needed so that components made by different manufacturers can work together.

“These requirements allow for interoperability,” said Mark Kosowski, who conducts research at EPRI on electric transportation. “When cities buy buses from different companies and deploy infrastructure to charge them along their routes, they want to make sure that it can be used by all the different vehicles in their fleets. The last thing you want to do is build your infrastructure and find out five years later that you have to change it.”

Kosowski serves as chair of SAE’s Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicle Conductive Charging Task Force, the collaborative group that informs the development of J-3105 by gathering input from electric utilities, vehicle manufacturers, component manufacturers, government agencies,

related industry associations, and standards organizations. In 2015, the task force selected him as chair because of his EV standards experience (in the 1990s, he chaired the committee that developed charging standards for light-duty passenger vehicles) and his neutrality (he is unaffiliated with bus companies and equipment manufacturers).

SAE J-3105 describes three different ways that power can flow between the charging infrastructure and parked vehicles. It also includes requirements on design measurements (such as the distance and angle between the vehicle and curb) and communications software.

“We came up with three connectors because the United States uses one kind, Europe uses another kind, and the third is used in other applications such as loading docks,” Kosowski said.

The main document of J-3105 describes the stationary infrastructure that accounts for about 90% of vehicle charging. Three other documents describe the various movable connections. J-3105-1 describes a connector mounted on the charging infrastructure that lowers onto a vehicle, J-3105-2 describes a connector mounted on a vehicle’s roof that moves up to the charging infrastructure, and J-3105-3 describes a pin-and-socket connection, similar to a conventional household electric plug. EPRI recently published a publicly available technical brief with further details on J-3105.

Each type of connector has advantages and disadvantages. If an infrastructure-mounted connector were to fail, many buses would be affected. A failure of a bus-mounted connector would only impact one bus. Relative to buses, semi-trucks don’t have as much room on top of their cabs to attach connectors, making vehicle-mounted connectors less suitable. According to Kosowski, all three connectors may find market niches as fleet operators discover which one works best for their vehicles.

An important insight on charger power capacity emerged during the development of J-3105. The task force initially considered the charging capacities on available products, which ranged from 350 to 500 kilowatts. Based on a survey of more than 100 transit bus fleets (which were all diesel at the time), the task force discovered that many transit routes would require 1-megawatt chargers. The documents published for infrastructure- and vehicle-mounted connectors define practices for 350-kilowatt chargers (called Level 1) but left a placeholder for 1-megawatt chargers (called Level 2).

In 2020, the task force is discussing the addition of Level 2 practices, with a focus on making Level 1 and 2 products interoperable. Kosowski expects this change to be complete by the end of 2020, giving transit agencies the ability to charge their buses at either level. The recommended practices for the pin-and-socket connector already include both Level 1 and 2.

As market forces shape the recommended practice into a formal standard over the next several years, Kosowski is already busy on research to inform another standard—for wireless bus charging.

For more details on the J-3105, contact EPRI’s Mark Kosowski (mkosowski@epri.com, 248-421-7124).

J-3105: An Important Step Toward Interoperability of Automated Electric Vehicle Charging

Infrastructure-mounted connector

Vehicle-mounted connector

Pin-and-socket connection

ELECTRIFICATION IN THE NEWSTop StoriesAs reported in Bloomberg Law, 15 states and the District of Columbia signed an agreement to work collaboratively on accelerating the market for electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, such as delivery trucks, school and transit buses, long-haul trucks, and large pickup trucks. The consortium’s goal is 30% zero-emission vehicles sales by 2030 and 100% clean vehicle sales by 2050. New York is one of the states that signed the agreement, and the announcement is on the New York governor’s website.

Southern California Edison announced that by 2030 every passenger car and small-to-midsize SUV in its fleet will be electric and 30% of its medium-duty vehicles and pickup trucks will be electric.

As reported in Reuters, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state would invest $750 million to build charging stations and other EV infrastructure. The announcement is also on the governor’s website.

Utility Dive reported on Joe Biden’s $2 trillion plan to invest in renewables and electrification.

EPRI’s Sunil Chhaya published an op-ed in T&D World Magazine about the grid and customer benefits of vehicle-to-grid technologies.

Other NewsA New York Times article takes an in-depth look at how more developers are creating “deep green” buildings that benefit the environment in diverse ways—such as generating all their own power or turning waste from toilets into garden fertilizer.

CNBC and Greentech Media reported on efforts to electrify construction equipment in Europe.

This Forbes article profiles several indoor agriculture startup companies.

An expert blog post from the Natural Resources Defense Council examines an ambitious proposal from the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Climate Crisis to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector. The key pillars in the proposal include energy efficiency, electrification of industrial processes, use of hydrogen fuel, re-use, recycling, and material substitution.

Automotive World examined the challenges of implementing reliable charging infrastructure to support widespread adoption of EVs.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $139 million in federal funding for 55 projects supporting advanced vehicle technologies.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced $3.5 million in funding to expand EV charging in the state.

Upcoming EventsNote: Check the event websites for the latest updates on rescheduling due to COVID-19.

EPRI’s Electrification Virtual Summit, October 19-23, 2020.

EPRI’s Electrification 2021 International Conference & Exposition has been scheduled for May 3-6. Details to come.

The ESA Energy Storage Annual Conference & Expo and the ESA Storage Exchange, August 24-27, 2020 (virtual event).

The 33rd World Electric Symposium and Exposition (EVS33), originally scheduled for June 14-17, has been canceled. The organizer is planning a virtual event for the fall.

Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo, September 15-17, 2020, Novi, Michigan.

HortiCann Light + Tech, October 20-21 (virtual event).

EPRI’s Bus and Truck Working Council Meeting, November 17, 2020 (virtual event).

EPRI’s National Electric Transportation Infrastructure Working Council Meeting, November 18-19, 2020 (virtual event).

Grid Edge Innovation Summit has been rescheduled for December 1-2 in Denver, Colorado.

Energy Storage North America, July 12-14, 2021, Long Beach, California.

Getting to Zero Forum, March 15-17, 2021, New York City.

The International Energy Agency Heat Pump Conference has been rescheduled from September 2020 to April 26-29, 2021, Jeju, South Korea.

Future Mobility Detroit has been rescheduled for September 8-9, 2021, Dearborn, Michigan.

Electric Power Research Institute 3420 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304-1338 • PO Box 10412, Palo Alto, California 94303-0813 USA 800.313.3774 • 650.855.2121 • askepri@epri.com • www.epri.com © 2012 Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Inc. All rights reserved. Electric Power Research Institute, EPRI, and TOGETHER . . . SHAPING THE FUTURE OF ELECTRICITY are registered service marks of the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.

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Energy Storage Annual Conference and Expo, August 24-27EPRI and the Edison Electric Institute are joining the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) for this year’s virtual Energy Storage Annual

Conference and Expo (#ESACon20) scheduled for August 24-27, 2020. ESA has expanded conference content to appeal to the broader electric sector, with the theme “Electrification and Resilience: We’re All in This Together.” EPRI President Arshad Mansoor will lead a keynote

session on how utilities are considering energy storage as a tool to help meet efficient electrification goals and renewable energy standards affordably and reliably. The conference includes the ESA Storage Exchange—Powered by EPRI, an event focused on sharing experiences of

successful integration and deployment practices that lower costs, reduce emissions, and increase the grid’s reliability and resiliency. It brings together project developers, technology innovators, utilities, manufacturers, safety experts, and other stakeholders.

EPRI ResourcesCustomer Perception of Electric Appliances: Key Takeaways from a Nationally Representative Survey, July 2020.

Quick Insight: Food Security and Controlled Environment Agriculture: How Indoor Food Production Can Reduce Societal Impacts During a Crisis, June 2020.

EPRI COVID-19 Research and Support: Characterization of Two UV-C Sanitizers for Controlled Area & Surface Disinfection, May 2020.

Technology Overview: EV Wireless Charging, May 2020.

Consumer Guide to Electric Vehicles, April 2020 (Spanish language version).

National Electric Transportation Infrastructure Working Council: 2019 Annual Report, April 2020.

Program on Technology Innovation: Retrofit Ready Heat Pump Water Heaters: Specifications and Customer Consideration, March 2020.

About EPRI’s Efficient Electrification InitiativeIn developed economies, electrification refers to the expanded use of electricity. This may involve powering new uses (such as cellular phones,

computers, and server farms) or switching everyday technologies (such as automobiles, forklifts, and furnaces) from direct combustion of

fossil fuels to electricity. Electrification offers potential to transform utilities and other industries in which power is a key input. As the electric

supply becomes cleaner, electrification can reduce society’s overall emissions. It can also lower costs and energy use for utility customers

and improve economic efficiency, water use efficiency, grid utilization efficiency, productivity, indoor environments, and safety. Through

collaborative research, development, and demonstration, EPRI’s Efficient Electrification initiative is examining the impacts and technical aspects

of electrifying the end use of energy—where it is more efficient to do so—for the benefit of customers, the environment, and society.