Charging Cost Optimization of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles
The future success of chargeable vehicles will, among other factors,
depend on their charging costs and their ability to charge with
minimal disturbances to the national, local and household electrical
grid. To be able to minimize costs and schedule charging sessions,
there has to be knowledge of how the charging power varies with
time. This is called charging profile. A number of charging profiles
for a Volvo V60 plug‑in hybrid electric vehicle have been
recorded. For charging currents above 10 A they prove to be more
complex than are assumed in most current research papers.
The charging profiles are used together with historical electricity
prices to calculate charging costs for 2013 and 2014. Charging is
assumed to take place during the night, between 18:00 and 07:00, with
the battery being totally depleted at 18:00. By using a timer to have
the charging start at 01:00, instead of immediately at 18:00, annual
charging costs are reduced by approximately 7 to 8%. By using dynamic
programming to optimize the charging sessions, annual charging costs
are reduced by approximately 10 to 11%. An interesting issue regarding
dynamic programming was identified, namely when using a limited set of
predetermined discrete control signals, interpolation returns
unrealizable cost-to-go values. This occurs specifically for instances
crossing the zero cost-to-go area boundary.
It is concluded that the mentioned savings are realizable, via
implementing timers or optimization algorithms into consumer charging
stations. Finally, by using these decentralized charging planning
tools and seen from a power usage perspective, at least 30% of the
Swedish vehicle fleet could be chargeable and powered by the
electrical grid.
Markus Knutfelt
2015
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Last updated: 2021-11-10
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