Planning electric-drive vehicle charging under constrained grid conditions

This paper presents a novel method of planning the charging of electric-drive vehicles that takes electricity grid constraints into account. The method computes an individual charging plan for each vehicle while minimizing the cost of electricity, avoiding distribution grid congestion, and satisfying the indiviual vehicle owner's requirements. The underlying algorithm is explained through a simple example and tested on a simulated electricity grid. The method is shown to significantly reduce the overloading in the electricity grid compared to charging schemes that do not consider grid constraints. ©2010 IEEE.