Ultra-fast EV charging a new load challenge to the grid

Local generation (wind or solar) and storage, coupled with fast charging infrastructure, is also becoming a widely accepted model known as buffered EV charging.

- Gautam Patil

With the evolution of battery technology, ultra-fast charging (ranging from 150kW to 600kW) is likely to become a mainstay feature of EVs as they aim to counter range anxiety. For instance, the recently launched Mahindra XEV 9e supports 180 kW DC fast charging and can achieve a range of approximately 400 km in just 20 minutes. This scales to a MW level when we consider fast charging for larger commercial vehicles. For context, a typical residential complex with approximately 250 flats has a demand of around 1MW on the grid, but this demand is much more predictable. In contrast, EV charging loads are significantly more sporadic and difficult to predict. This is the crux of the challenge that fast charging poses to grid stability - concentrated but ad hoc pockets of power demand that could destabilise local networks while also making generation-related planning more complex.

Optimising EV Charging