Yanning Li | 

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Presentation Description

California’s ambitious electric vehicle (EV) policies will require substantial capacity upgrade in the electric distribution system. However, there are indications that the grid resources may be distributed inequitably across different communities. In this study, we adopt large-scale and high-resolution distribution grid network data to investigate potential circuit capacity upgrades across California up to 2035. To simulate EV driving and charging behavior at high granularity, we leverage California Statewide Travel Demand Model (CSTDM), EV adoption model – EV Toolbox, as well as empirical EV charging records for light-duty passenger EV; and we adopt an agent-based simulation model - HEVI-LOAD - for medium- and heavy- duty EV. We examine upgrade needs across different types of communities with the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool. And we found that generally, less capacity headroom is left when building the circuits in disadvantaged communities, leading to a higher proportion of circuits that will need to be upgraded due to future EV adoption. The average upgrade size per circuit, on the other hand, is generally lower in disadvantaged communities. And in disadvantaged communities, there is expected to be a higher proportion of public and workplace light-duty EV charging, as well as a higher proportion of medium- and heavy-duty EV charging. We also looked into different residential density areas with land use data, and found that on average, circuits in high-density residential areas serve more population, and are expected to have a higher fraction of circuits that will need an upgrade. The average capacity headroom left when the circuits are built is higher in low-density residential areas than in high-density residential areas. This inequitable access to grid resources, together with the spatial diversity in EV charging behavior, may lead to an inequitable distribution of grid upgrade costs on end-use consumers in different communities.

Speaker Biography

Yanning Li is currently a PhD candidate at the Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle (PH&EV) center of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) at the University of California, Davis. She graduated from ETH Zurich with a MSc in Energy Science and Technology, and has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University. Yanning’s research is focused on grid integration of plug-in electric vehicles.

Co-presenters

Alan Jenn

Presentation File