6.1e ERMUSR 08-14-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Understanding how EV drivers make decisions about charging American Public Power ... Page 5 of 11 There are good reasons for employers to do so. For one thing, the presence of EV charging stations improves the business' image as a forward-looking, sustainable enterprise. Businesses also may offer charging as an employee benefit. But Jimenez points out that many obstacles must be overcome before employers readily embrace EV charging. Capital costs for installation can be high. The employer might not have the space within a parking lot for the chargers. Moreover, many simply know little about EVs and how to install chargers. On top of that, administering the programs creates new work. If there is not a 1:1 ratio of chargers to EVs, who gets to charge first? Is it first-come, first-served, or should the employer create a schedule for who charges when? And who pays for the electricity — the employer or the employee? To help with the cost, SMUD offers customers a S1,500 incentive for each Level 2 charging station. Business customers can take advantage of the incentive for installing up to 20 chargers per location. SMUD also offers up to $120,000 for DC fast charging stations with public access. EPRI's Dunckley pointed out that EV drivers tend to be clustered in terms of geography. Often they are centered in high-income areas, not evenly spread out over a service territory. This will affect how utilities use them in managing load and planning capacity. "It's something to consider — not necessarily a bad thing, but something to watch for." Changing fuels and changing habits How people pay for electric refueling, not just how much they are charged, has an impact on habits and expectations, a lesson learned by ERMU. Unlike EV operators, most drivers of gasoline-powered cars fall into common refueling patterns. One popular habit is to wait until the gas needle hits near full and then "top off" the tank with two or three clicks (shut-offs) of the pump handle. Another is to "run on empty," which is the habit of putting just enough gas in the tank to get you from point A to point B and maybe back again. This is the "pump upon need" model. When ERMU studied EV driver behavior, it found some resistance to the charging fees it levied on its users — one for the connection and the other for the energy itself. It turned out that the resistance was a result of drivers' EV charging needs. https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/understanding-how-ev-drivers-make-decisi... 7/30/2018