ABI sees EVs driving grid modernization down the road

While consumer adoption of EVs continues to disappoint with only 2% of all vehicles shipping in 2018 expected to be electric, city governments are increasingly becoming aware of their benefits in terms of sustainability, reduced environmental impact, and improved air quality, said ABI Research yesterday in publicizing its research on the topic. The widespread introduction of urban emission zones, initially aimed at banning older diesel vehicles, will culminate in zero emission zones and city centers restricted to EVs only, said the new report.

While consumer adoption of EVs continues to disappoint with only 2% of all vehicles shipping in 2018 expected to be electric, city governments are increasingly becoming aware of their benefits in terms of sustainability, reduced environmental impact, and improved air quality, said ABI Research yesterday in publicizing its research on the topic. The widespread introduction of urban emission zones, initially aimed at banning older diesel vehicles, will culminate in zero emission zones and city centers restricted to EVs only, said the new report.

"However, vehicle electrification adoption drivers will increasingly shift from consumer-ownership to shared urban mobility, initially ridesharing followed by driverless EV car sharing in the longer term," said ABI Research VP of End Markets Dominique Bonte in prepared remarks. "The state of California is preparing a bill which would mandate 20% of miles traveled via ride-hailing services to be in EVs by 2023, rising to 50% by 2026.

"At the same time, Uber's EV Champions program proactively pushes ridesharing electrification through education, support, and cash incentives for driver-partners," he added. "The combined effect of the proportionally higher uptake of EVs in car-sharing fleets and their much higher utilization rates will result in global electric mileage share to exceed 20% by 2030."

This shift to electric mobility services has important consequences for both charging station and grid infrastructure requirements, ABI said. The business imperative of continuous operation and availability from both a profitability and customer experience perspective will drive the need for a granular network of both DC fast charging and future wireless public charging stations.

With accelerating EV penetration, increasing stress on public grids will have to be mitigated by advanced DR and load balancing software solutions, EV charging management, and vehicle-to-grid systems, widespread adoption of microgrids, and a more holistic, cross-vertical approach to energy management, it added. Suppliers active in this space include Hevo Power, EMotorWerks, Greenlots, Nuvve, Jedlix, Moev, and FleetCarma which was recently acquired by Geotab, ABI said.

Ultimately, the transportation electrification revolution will require a fundamental redesign of the grid itself, tailored to accommodate distributed and decentralized modes of renewable energy consumption and generation in urban contexts. Smart city transportation electrification will be multimodal, with EVs complemented by electric two-wheel vehicles (bikes, scooters, and motorbikes), shuttles, boats, and future passenger carrying drones, it added.

Clearly, the dominance of car-based mobility is not sustainable and Uber's recent investment in and partnership with Lime on electric scooter sharing along with Lyft's strategy to integrate bike and scooter sharing shows the urban mobility landscape is yet again being reshaped, the firm said.

The findings were from ABI Research's "Smart Cities and Transportation Electrification" report, it added, part of its Smart Cities and Smart Spaces research service which includes research, data, and executive foresights.

Source : https://www.smartgridtoday.com/members/ABI-sees-EVs-driving-grid-modernization-down-the-road.cfm