Welcome to Electric Transportation Wiki

Welcome to the main page of the Electric Power Research Institute's Electric Transportation Wiki, a wiki-style hub for Electric Transportation research at EPRI.

Electric Transportation falls under the Electrification and Customer Solutions section of the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) Power Delivery & Utilization sector, which, "provides transmission, distribution, and end use R&D to guide utilities and stakeholders toward a safe, secure, resilient, affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible, integrated grid."

EPRI is a non-profit organization. Find out more about EPRI's history and business here.

Current and Planned Electric Transportation Wiki Content

Content	Description	Access
Electric Transportation 101
Utility Programs Database
Publicly Available Tools
Electric Transportation Roadmap: Vision for ...
Electric Transportation Case Studies
EV Consumer Guides
Newsletters
Research Results and Supplemental Projects
Electric Transportation Working Groups
About Us

EPRI's Comprehensive Electric Transportation Expertise

The experts in EPRI's Electric Transportation program conduct in-depth research on these and other critical issues. EPRI's comprehensive research, data, and tools can help utilities expedite actions to achieve their EV-related goals—whether they have recently started engaging with the EV market or are long-time market participants.

The program also gathers key insights through its collaboration among utilities, automakers, charging infrastructure companies, and other major national and international EV industry stakeholders. Utilities can use EPRI's comprehensive suite of resources to help them serve as their customers' trusted EV advisors, and to inform their short- and long-term investment decisions to help enable reliable, safe, affordable, and environmentally responsible electricity.

Please contact us with any questions about our research.

Approach

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The Electric Transportation program utilizes several approaches to advance research in the rapidly changing landscape:

Subject	Approach	Accomplishments	Current Year Activities
Utility Customers	Analyses of customer driving and charging behavior, customer preferences and needs, EV load shapes, charging infrastructure requirements, and EV market potential to inform the design of effective utility EV programs	Led industry-first customer EV pilots to understand driving and charging patterns and to assess grid impacts and implications for demand response	Collect and analyze data on where, when, and how people charge and drive, and how these behaviors are influenced by local charging infrastructure, vehicle capabilities, and other factors. A recent example is a project to investigate driving and charging behaviors of Tesla owners. Analyze utility customers' preferences and needs with respect to EVs and charging and distill implications of these preferences to inform the design of effective utility EV programs
Thought Leadership on Markets and Technology	Webcasts, newsletters, executive briefings, a utility-only working group, and other communications to provide insights on EV markets, technologies, and trends A lay-friendly publicly available suite of consumer guides on EVs, commercial and industrial electric transportation, and charging infrastructure	Created a suite of free, publicly available consumer guides for EVs and charging. Utilities distribute these guides at EV "ride and drive" events Since 2016, published a monthly newsletter, providing hundreds of subscribers at utilities with expert commentary on EV industry news, technologies, and trends. The newsletter is ongoing.	Distill insights and provide expert commentary on EV markets, technologies, and trends in quarterly webcasts, monthly newsletters, executive briefings, and timely hot topic summaries Host a utility-only working council to discuss and address critical issues related to commercial and industrial fleets Analyze battery size, charging power, and other specifications of newly released EVs and charging equipment and distill implications for designing effective utility EV programs Publish and update a suite of publicly available, lay-friendly consumer guides to EVs, commercial and industrial electric transportation, and charging infrastructure
Research, Development, Testing, and Collaborative Demonstrations	Laboratory testing and collaborative field demonstrations of EVs and EV charging equipment (AC and DC) to collect data and analyze performance and grid impacts Development, field demonstrations, and deployment of advanced smart charging and vehicle-to-grid communications technologies that can enable smooth grid integration of EVs Development, field demonstrations, and deployment of municipal, commercial, and industrial electric transportation technologies (road and non-road applications) Research on and development of EVs and EV components along with data collection and performance assessment	Developed the Open Vehicle-Grid Integration Platform, an open-standards communications software that enables utilities to manage EV charging and that standardizes business relationships among utilities, automakers, and drivers. Nine EV manufacturers and 15 utilities have collaborated with EPRI on this effort. Pioneered the use of electric trucks and vans in commercial and industrial fleets, demonstrating the cost-effective use of battery EVs in numerous nationwide pilots and demonstrations Helped to advance various EV technologies used by major automakers and charging station companies	Develop, demonstrate, deploy, and evaluate smart EV charging and DC fast charging systems, assess grid impacts, and use the results to inform effective strategies for grid integration of EVs. Participants in collaborative demonstrations and pilots include utilities, automakers, equipment manufacturers, and charging station providers. An example is the ongoing demonstrations of EPRI's Open Vehicle-Grid Integration Platform. Develop, demonstrate, deploy, and evaluate commercial and industrial electric transportation technologies. Participants in collaborative demonstrations and pilots include utilities, EV manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, transit agencies, and school districts. Examples include pilot programs for transit buses and school buses. Analyze performance of EVs and their components, such as batteries and drivetrains Assess new technologies, such as EV batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, marine technologies, electric transport refrigeration units, and vehicle-to-grid interfaces. Use the results to inform how and when utilities and their customers adopt various technologies.
Leadership on Informing Standards	Open forums for collaboration among utilities, major automakers, charging equipment manufacturers, charging station operators, national laboratories, and other national and global EV industry stakeholders to address technical challenges and inform standards	Led a collaborative effort to inform a standard charging plug design for light-duty EVs Led a collaborative effort to inform a standard for electric bus charging Hosted the Infrastructure Working Council for nearly 30 years. The council is ongoing.	Regularly convene utilities, automakers, equipment manufacturers, national laboratories, nongovernmental organizations, and other national and global stakeholders in collaborative meetings to advance technologies and inform standards for EVs and charging equipment The public Infrastructure Working Council focuses on standards for light-duty EVs, and the public Bus and Truck Working Council focuses on standards for medium- and heavy-duty EVs.
Tools and Analyses to Enable Market Transformation	Analyses of the implications of smart charging and vehicle-to-grid systems for electricity rate structures, demand response, and costs and benefits for grid operations Analyses of the environmental benefits of EVs (such as emissions reductions and improved air quality) Analyses of the economic benefits of EVs to utilities, utility customers, and society Development of user-friendly tools that can help utilities identify cost-effective solutions to accommodate new loads from commercial and industrial EV fleets Development of user-friendly tools that utilities" commercial and industrial customers can use to determine the most cost-effective ways to deploy charging infrastructure for EV fleets Local EV market assessments in specific utility service areas (including quantifying current EV sales, projecting future EV sales, and mapping charging infrastructure) to inform	Demonstrated (in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council) that EVs have lower emissions than gasoline-fueled vehicles and improve air quality Provided analyses that informed a utility and local government in establishing a charging station network Developed an easy-to-use forklift cost savings calculator for a large utility and its customers	Develop and apply tools to model impacts of EV adoption on distribution circuits up to the transformer level Develop and apply tools to model environmental impacts of EVs and analyze emissions related to EV use at national, regional, and local scales Develop tools that can help utilities identify cost-effective solutions to accommodate new loads from commercial and industrial EV fleets Help utilities develop user-friendly tools that their commercial and industrial customers can use to determine the most cost-effective ways to deploy charging infrastructure for EV fleets Quantify current EV sales, forecast future EV sales, and map local charging stations in specific utility service areas to inform investment decisions on utility EV programs, grid upgrades, and charging infrastructure Create utility dashboards that clearly and concisely communicate utility-specific trends, such as EV growth, charging station growth, and EV availability.

Research Results and Supplemental Projects

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The research conducted in the Electric Transportation program holds value to both its utility customers and industry stakeholders as well as to the public. Potential benefits include:

Value to Utilities and Other EV Industry Stakeholders

• Greater understanding of EV-related customer preferences and behaviors to inform the design of effective utility EV programs
• Deeper knowledge of local and regional EV markets to inform the design of effective utility EV programs
• Improved understanding of national and global EV markets, technologies, and trends to inform utilities as they design effective EV programs and adapt their systems and operations to EVs
• Greater understanding of the potential benefits of EVs for the environment, grid operations, customers, and society
• Deeper utility engagement with key EV stakeholders nationally and globally, including automakers, equipment manufacturers, charging station operators, national laboratories, and regulators
• Enhanced ability to anticipate grid impacts of EVs and to provide reliable grid infrastructure that can support charging needs of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty EVs
• Smarter management of charging to enable smooth grid integration of EVs
• Greater understanding of the performance, durability, reliability, and operational costs of EVs and their components
• Enhanced ability to advance and refine various light-, medium-, and heavy-duty electric transportation technologies
• Increased knowledge to address technical challenges, inform standards, and enhance safety and reliability of electric transportation and grid infrastructure
• Enhanced standards and equipment interoperability, which can enable EV adoption
• Reduced uncertainty and costs associated with large-scale deployment of EVs and related infrastructure

Value to the Public

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality as a result of widespread EV adoption
• Enhanced grid reliability and safety and lower electricity costs as a result of effective integration of EVs
• More customer choice regarding energy use, technology adoption, and charging infrastructure
• Greater awareness and understanding of EV technologies and applications

Types of Research

The Electric Transportation program conducts two types of research. Those conducted as a part of EPRI's Annual Research Portfolio (ARP) are Research Results and are either Base Funded (through program funding) or Supplemental. Supplemental Projects are research, development or demonstration projects offered outside of the annual research portfolio.