Inductive charging can reduce the need for uncontrolled charging and increase flexibility through electric cars in Germany

Abstract

The interactions between the transport and energy sectors will play an increasingly important role for the electrification of the transport sector. The integration of electric vehicles into the energy system in a way that serves the grid is essential, especially considering an increase of fluctuating renewable generation in the energy sector and the electrification of the transport sector. Inductive charging can help increase the frequency of charging processes for electric vehicles. Compared to conductive charging infrastructure, the automated connection of the electric vehicle to a charging point plays a decisive role. This makes charging processes shorter and thus more flexible, which reduces the load on the energy system. Using a utility-based charging demand model (CURRENT), different design scenarios of inductive charging infrastructure were investigated and compared with a reference scenario without inductive charging infrastructure. The findings show that inductive charging ensures that more vehicles are connected to a charging point at the same time. The need for uncontrolled charging can be significantly reduced if inductive charging infrastructure is installed where vehicles tend to park for a longer time, e.g. at home or at work. In particular, inductive charging infrastructure at private parking places at home has a large effect and can reduce the average power demand for uncontrolled charging by up to 50 %.