A methodology to support the electrical network in order to promote electric vehicle charging in smart cities

Smart City design must include facilities for low emission transport, and that includes electric vehicles. Amongst other things, the installation of charging points for electric vehicles must consider the effect on the low voltage power network. A network modelling tool has been used to analyse the effect of introducing charge points into an urban environment. Real values of network topology derived from those available for the local distribution network operator have been used to populate the model. The effect of increasing penetration of EVs, changing from 3 kW to 7 kW charging are shown to cause unacceptable increases in power flow and cable thermal overload. Several strategies are then demonstrated to ameliorate the effect, including phased charging, delayed charging and cable upgrade.