The global energy systems are facing a major transformation due to technical and institutional changes and especially due to the Climate Crisis, manifested by UN’s Paris Agreement. This transformation is towards decentralized, low-carbon, and integrated local energy systems, where multitude of actors are engaged to deliver new and innovative solutions. Utilities are adapting their business models and new energy services are emerging.

At present, most of the electricity is generated through large, centralized fossil fuel-based power plants connected to transmission networks. However, in the past decade, due to the advent of affordable solar and storage technology, this have been transitioning towards a hybrid model including distributed renewable energy and storage. Decentralized energy allows people to participate actively in energy related decision-making within their locality, while supporting a democratic restructuring of energy systems, sectors, and institutions.

Moreover, with growth in the electric vehicles on the road, it is expected, by 2030, global electricity demand from EVs on the road will jump from 79 TWh (2019) to almost 1,000 TWh. Assuming unmanaged charging, the share of EV charging in evening peak demand times could be as high as 4-10% in main markets. (IEA. Global EV Outlook, 2020)

However, unmanaged and unprepared utilities will face serious challenges in electricity generation, transmission and distribution resulting in expensive system upgrades (e.g., peaker plant construction, unplanned upgrades) or grid failure. The time to implement a solution that prepares utilities and power grids coupled with consumer programming or incentives promoting off-peak charging is now – before roads are flooded with EVs.

Issues and barriers:

• Fragmented market: The EV charging market is fragmented, with EVSE manufacturers relying on proprietary data-collection tools (or no data collection) to service end-customers (EV owners). As a result, utilities are underserved and lack critical demand data.
• Demand diversity: Power grid capacity is sized around demand diversity. This approach controls costs by avoiding costly changes to sizing infrastructure. EVs will dramatically affect existing business and infrastructure models with changes in power quality and usage patterns that create stress on the power grid. These stresses may lead to transformer failure and costly replacements in high density neighbourhoods.
• Changing technology: EV charging’s short-term challenge is to ensure the reliability and quality of the neighbourhood grid. When long-range BEVs hit the market, they will consume more energy, have larger storage capacity, draw power at higher levels, and have less predictable usage patterns. These factors threaten to increase grid congestion and may result in unforeseen infrastructure costs. A study commissioned by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District indicates an estimated 17% (12,000) of the utility’s transformers may need replacement due to EV-related overloads, at an average estimated cost of USD$7,400 per transformer.
• Flexible load management at scale: Utilities define the fundamental frequency and voltage of the system, but the signal is dependent on the load. Even though ToU rates help shift charging hours to utilities preferred times, EV owners often schedule charging to begin the moment off-peak rates begin, resulting in sharp load ramps (or “timer peaks”). Poor load management increases transformer and substation impacts, and distortion. Optimization and management of the variable demands - frequency and volume – on the grid, while maintaining stable, consistent power quality requires understanding of demand profile and ability to influence it.
• Standardization: The landscape of protocol standards and technologies for managed charging and vehicle-to-grid is evolving rapidly. This poses challenges for utilities attempting to specify standards and build scalable systems and programs. While the need for standards is clear, the path to achieving widespread agreement on standards is not.
• Grid management systems: Currently, the ability of utilities to support coordinated EV adoption and residential EV charging management is limited by the following issues and barriers:
  • No visibility into residential EV charging location
  • No power quality measurement at the EVSE level
  • Data, data access and smart networking are not standardized across EV charger (EVSE) models
  • The market lacks EV-owner specific engagement tools
  • Proprietary EV, EVSE and grid-management applications work in silos
  • Lack of standardized cyber-security
  • Utilities cannot easily identify EV-related grid issues.
  • Utilities have difficulty managing EV charging on neighborhood distribution networks.
  • Utilities cannot easily gather and analyze grid data relating to EV demand.
  • Limited EV-owner participation in programs
  • Poor integration and control of smart networks, behind-the-meter data and customer privacy
  • It is difficult for EV owners to understand grid conditions and best practices.

Elocity recognizes that the transformation of an individual household (highest resolution level for localization) from a passive consumer to an active prosumer could foster using EVs, where the EVs have the capability of bidirectional charging, enabling V2X energy flow, where X may represent another EV, a building, or the grid. Elocity technology is analogues to NEST in the air-conditioning industry or a USB in the computer industry.

Elocity has developed a secure digital EV charging technology (HIEV) which connects the utilities, buildings, and EV drivers for grid supportive EV charging. Elocity end-to-end AI-powered solution enables utilities, buildings, and charge point operators to better manage charging demand and maintain grid resiliency while protecting customer privacy.

The HIEV technology includes:

1. A cloud application (HIEV-Cloud) integrated with buildings, homes and utilities back-office software enabling utilities to launch and manage utility driven EV charging programs.
2. A smart EV charging node (HIEV-EVPlug) which brings any make and model of EV supply equipment (EVSE) onto an interoperable and digital platform.
3. A customer engagement mobile app (HIEV-Engage App) enabling EV drivers to connect with EV chargers, buildings, and utilities; participate in managed EV charging programs; reduce charging costs.

The solution offers the following unique benefits and advancements:

• Maximized Interoperability: The Proposed solution acts as a bridge between EVSEs and utilities with its standardized open protocols and best practices to provide interoperability with all EVSE technology. It allows utilities to collect data from the widest possible number of EVSE technologies.
• Vendor Agnostic: The EVSE market is fragmented, data is siloed, and poorly integrated with utilities, smart-grid, and related technologies. Most EVSE back-end systems are proprietary and cannot integrate or scale with electric utility systems such as smart metering and grid management systems. Proposed solution works with any EVSE technology to unlock data and deliver it to utilities and EV owners.
• Utility collaboration: EV technologies typically focus on the consumer. Proposed technology is one of its kind to focus on the needs of electric utilities and provide tools related EV demand response specifically and give utilities and business owners a direct control to EV charging.
• End-to-end: Currently, EV-charging technologies are consumer, or the grid focused, without connecting consumer behaviour/demand to grid performance and power quality. Proposed product connects the consumers EV chargers, smart meters, and demand management systems of the utilities. It’s an end-to-end solution, which fills a gap in the marketplace.
• Privacy preservation and selective disclosure: EV owners are concerned about their privacy, and the data ownership, limiting their participation in EV demand management programs. The proposed project will deliver a novel privacy preservation framework based on blockchain.
• Power quality measurements: Offers the real-time power quality measurements to utilities and the customers.

EV charging demand management is an emerging field needing the technology provider to enrich and mature the technology. The market is fragmented; there are many new/unproven solutions; many companies are startups, not established and therefore, there is limited proof of ROI.

Elocity’s HIEV technology is leagues ahead of its competitors addressing three top pain points with respect to managed EV charging:

• Novel data privacy
• Interoperability (works with any EV charger)
• Integration with utility and building back-end automation systems

Our innovative design and technology offer more value at a fraction of the cost.

When the supply chain was on the verge of collapse due to the COVID outbreak, we successfully demonstrated and delivered our innovative digital platform, HIEV, for utility-driven managed EV charging to local power distribution utilities across North American, Asian, and European countries. Since then, this has been reflected in the series of rolling partnerships we have formed.

Additionally, with London Hydro and with assistance from the Ontario Ministry of Energy's Smart Grid Fund, we have successfully tested our cutting-edge digital technology, HIEV, for utility-driven managed EV charging in Canada alone. The project provided technology advancements in EV charger interoperability, vehicle to grid integration and data privacy protections.

We are now working with the IESO, largest Canadian utilities Toronto Hydro and Waterloo North Hydro to implement our managed EV charging project. In India, we powered the nation's first EV charging expressway at a time when the COVID outbreak was at its peak. Since that time, we've collaborated with some of the biggest electric utilities, government organisations, auto OEMs, fleet operators, and charger OEMs worldwide, and the list keeps increasing. We are currently nearing completion on our largest pipeline agreements with two of Asia's top power corporations, among other things.

Our technology has been improved through repeated field and laboratory tests. In order to create a test bed for ongoing product improvement, we have teamed with numerous Research institutions and businesses throughout the EV charging ecosystem. With a variety of chargers and use cases, these strategic relationships aid in the development of HIEV technology. At Elocity, we believe this is just the beginning and that there is still much work to be done to make this ecosystem into a connected EV world.