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Locating EV Charger Installations for Electrical Grid Efficiency
In 2021, 1.5 million electric cars cruised U.S. streets. The next year, that number grew to 2.1 million. And in 2023, U.S. electric car stock soared to 3.5 million all-electric vehicles (EVs), plus another 1.3 million hybrids.
So there are lots of EVs out there, and so far we’ve only covered the United States. Globally, drivers registered 14 million new electric cars in 2023. That brings the total worldwide EV count to around 40 million, with more on the way.
Is our infrastructure ready to support all these EVs?
It’s not just a question of building EV charger installations. Already, more than 60 percent of Americans have a public EV charging station within two miles of their home. We’re building more all the time. The other challenge, however, is making sure all these charging stations have enough power.
That’s a question of the electrical grid’s capabilities — and according to research from the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the current U.S. electrical grid won’t support limitless EV charger installations.
“Depending on the charging patterns of an electrified transportation system,” a 2023 study says, “the electricity grid may reach generation and distribution limits at certain times, potentially leading to transformer blowouts, electricity shortages, or reliance on expensive peaking plants to maintain supply” (our emphasis).
If you’re thinking of building an EV charging station — for public use or for a private EV fleet — you can’t assume the grid will evolve enough to solve the problem. Instead, look for ways to ensure power availability under today’s grid conditions.
As the Cell Reports Physical Science study suggests, one strategy is to build EV charger installations in particular locations.
Here are the two best places to put an EV charger installation under current grid conditions — along with some tips on how to fit charging stations into these prime locations.
How EV Charger Installation Placement Affects the Grid
Charging patterns create a challenge for electrical grids.
The charging pattern refers to specific times of day when many EV owners charge their vehicles at once. Earlier research found that most EV users plug their cars in at the same time: In the evening.
That makes sense, as few people buy EV cars in the absence of a home EV charger installation. Drivers get home from work and plug the car in for the following day’s commute.
But all that sudden demand can overwhelm the grid. The researchers behind the Cell Reports study say that evening-peak EV charging could soon require 20 percent more power than the current grid can provide.
Peak Charging and Green Energy Waste
The other problem researchers associate with EV charger location has to do with losing energy generated by the sun.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that solar power will provide 20 percent of the nation’s energy by 2050. With that sort of scale, even small inefficiencies can add up to heavy losses.
The trouble is that we don’t have good, affordable ways to store solar energy. Grid-scale batteries are cost-prohibitive. That makes the energy of the sun a use-it-or-lose-it phenomenon. And, of course, the only time you can use fresh solar power is when the sun is out — i.e., not in the evening, when EV drivers like to charge their cars.
Locating EV Charging Stations to Limit Energy Waste and Peak Demand
Both of these problems ultimately stem from consumer behavior, which is a notoriously hard thing to change. You can’t ask drivers to stop charging their cars in the evening unless you give them more attractive alternatives.
That’s where the location of EV charger installations comes into play. Put the chargers in convenient places — and maybe stack on incentives, like cheap or low-cost charging — and you’ll have a much easier time getting consumers to stagger their charging times. You might also encourage more daytime charging, which can take advantage of solar energy.
So what sorts of places encourage these beneficial behavior changes among EV owners?
Two Prime Locations for Grid-Friendly EV Charging Stations
According to the researchers, the two best places to build new EV charger installations are at workplaces and at homes.
“Homes” doesn’t just include the single-family house garage. It covers charging stations in apartment complexes, parking garages, and street-parking spaces. It includes just about anywhere an EV owner might leave the car overnight while it charges.
As for workplaces? That could be an industrial facility, a retail outlet, an office building, or anywhere else employees park.
Here are the advantages — and prerequisites — for building grid-friendly EV charging stations at each of these two recommended locations.
The Benefits of Workplace EV Charging
When employers provide EV charging stations at the workplace, they get happier employees (and maybe even more customers). But the grid benefits, too.
Slow charging at work draws less energy, over a longer period of time, than fast charging or plugging in during the evening rush. As an added bonus, Level 1 and/or Level 2 chargers are a lot more affordable to install than DC Fast Charge technology.
And when workers charge their vehicles while the sun is overhead, the grid can default to solar power generation, reducing waste and cutting down on fossil fuel use significantly. The same is true for commercial EV fleets, which benefit from daytime charging whenever they’re not out on the road.
Of course, drivers will want to charge their EVs at home, too. Luckily, there’s a simple way to make this practice go easy on the electrical grid.
How to Make Home EV Charging Easier on Electrical Grids
The researchers behind these ideas recommend a home-charging practice that will make the current electrical grid perfectly capable of keeping everyone’s EVs running. It’s called “delayed home charging,” or, more off-puttingly perhaps, “last-minute charging.”
Delayed home charging involves timing charges to complete right before the driver needs the vehicle. If you need to leave for work at 7 a.m., for example, and your battery only needs two hours to top off, it would start charging at 5.
A simple app could control these charging intervals, giving consumers control over the charging end time, rather than the start time, which leads to demand glut.
Researchers say driving behavior varies enough to spread out the power demand if we adopt delayed home charging programs. That doesn’t help with solar power usage, but it can prevent a sudden rush on electrical resources.
Taken in tandem, slow workplace charging and delayed home charging make today’s grid work for tomorrow’s EV fleets. That makes home and workplace parking areas the ideal spots for new EV charger installations.
These locations present their own challenge to charging station designers, however. Here’s what you’ll need to create a safe, convenient, and long-lasting EV charging station at a workplace, multi-family dwelling, or street parking space.
Designing EV Charging Stations for Energy-Efficient Installations
Parking lots for fleet depots, shopping centers, industrial facilities, and apartment buildings must all use space efficiently. They must keep driving, parking, and walking surfaces free from expensive equipment and tripping hazards.
To encourage use of charging stations, however, they must also be convenient for users. Meeting all these goals at once requires thoughtful design for EV charging stations. Here are a few tips:
- Stick with Level 1 or Level 2 EV chargers. The Cell Reports study recommends Level 1 chargers for slow workplace charging. Home/street/fleet charging installations benefit from Level 2 chargers. There’s no need for the expense (or space requirements) of a DC Fast Charge unit.
- Choose EV charger stands with the smallest possible footprint. Some EV charger stands are built to look like gas pumps. You’ll save a lot more space with a narrow profile, as found in EV Charger Pedestals from Solus Group.
- Install two chargers per stand. Further limit your footprint by choosing EV Charging Pedestals that can handle more than one charger at a time. This effectively halves the support infrastructure you need for your multi-vehicle charging station.
- Include a cable management solution with each EV charger. Don’t let charging cables sit coiled on the ground. They might trip pedestrians. Or cars might run them over, causing expensive damage. Choose EV Charger Cable Retractors that lift cables out of harm’s way while providing easy access when it’s time for a charge.
- Protect EV charging equipment with structural barriers. Enclose EV charging installations with Structural Bollards or Barrier Rails — something that reduces the chance of a vehicle strike without blocking user access.
Solus Group offers everything you need to build a dependable EV charging station, at home, in the workplace, or anywhere else. We offer integrated EV Charger Pedestals and Cable Management Kits, suitable for indoor and outdoor use, in single- or double-charger models.
We also have a whole line of Safety Barriers & Guardrails to keep your EV charger installation safe. The location of your EV charger can help limit demand on the power grid, and EV Charger Handling Equipment from Solus Group can help you build that charging station anywhere.
Questions about your next EV charger installation? Contact Solus Group at 314-696-0200 today.
