Sufficiency of level 1 charging to meet electric vehicle charging requirements

Abstract

As electric vehicle (EV) deployment increases there is increasing attention to meeting charging needs. We analyze 13 months of real world driving and charging data for 129 battery electric vehicles in Calgary, Canada to evaluate the potential for home-based level 1 charging to deliver the energy needed to satisfy observed driving demand. We find that 29% of vehicles can have their energy needs met entirely with level 1 charging. A further 53% of vehicles in our sample require only occasional supplementary level 3 charges and only a small minority of vehicles require 12 or more supplementary level 3 charges across the sample period. Across all vehicles the median ratio of charge energy that can be shifted to level 1 charging is 0.99. These results challenge the assumption that level 2 charging access is required for convenient operation of EVs and offer a partial solution to enable broader EV charging access and reduce the need for near term electrical panel or distribution grid upgrades.

Keywords

• electric vehicle charging
• level 1 charging
• electrification of transportation