As electric vehicle adoption continues to rise, cities need to start thinking about how EV chargers will affect the grid and how utility companies will need to compensate. Here, Toronto Hydro has already been making plans to study how EVs currently affect the grid and how new technology, increased adoption, and owners’ behavior will impact their services.

We wrote an entire blog post on The Electric Forum about how utility companies and EVs are connected. We looked at what these companies will need to learn to ensure a smooth transition into a future where EVs charging from a city’s grid are commonplace.

“A city’s electrical grid and utility companies are, without a doubt, affected by the rise of electric vehicles. As more and more drivers see the benefits of an EV and as the restrictions of charging stations begin to disappear, we can anticipate that the number of EVs charging from a city’s grid will only increase. While charging an EV can be as simple as plugging a drip charger into an existing outlet, as the volume of EVs grow, the impact on the grid will force major changes.

Grids have a history of adjusting

But EVs sure aren’t the first alternative to existing inventions we’ve seen shake up a city’s infrastructure. In fact, cities all over the world have had to adjust to game changing inventions that draw from the grid throughout history. The key to that sentence is the word “adjust”. With these kinds of advancements, existing infrastructure needs to evaluate their role in the new technology and find the most effective way to proceed.

The more studies, the better

Utility companies will benefit from involvement in any and all EV studies to learn what will happen to their grid as EV adoption grows. Concepts to consider in these studies include:

1. Charging Habits – If there are certain hours where the grid is strained because a large number of EV owners are charging, time-of-use rates will need to reflect this to add incentive to charge on the off-times. Ways to store energy to use during these times will also need to be considered…”

Read the entire article at The Electric Forum!