Impact of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles on Electricity Demand Profile

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles seem to be a viable solution to improve the fuel economy of personal transportation. At the same time, they will have a significant impact on the power grid. In order for the electric power infrastructure to be well-prepared for the challenges of vehicle to grid interactions, one needs to know the electricity demand profile of plug-in vehicles. There are various levels of uncertainty associated with this issue. For example, arrival time, daily miles driven, energy storage capacity, charging rate, and the total number of plug-in vehicles need to be accurately estimated. This chapter uses the National Household Travel Survey to extract such data. Once the method to extract the electricity demand profile of plug-in vehicles is set up, it is easier to study the impact of coordinated charging through charging policies and incentives. Another advantage of extracting the electricity demand profile of plug-in vehicle is that it can be easily used to determine the impact of such vehicles on the upstream pollutions of power plants.