Charging strategies and infrastructure design for transition to electrified fleets

Project Description

Enabling the transition to electrified transport can be achieved through a convenient and widespread charging network. However, the contribution of this effort to decarbonisation largely depends on the electricity generation mix, since the country's generation currently heavily relies on fossil fuel sources. Therefore, combining the transition to electrification of transport using renewable sources is paramount to ensuring a more sustainable transportation paradigm. This project addresses the fundamental questions of what type of non-residential charging infrastructure and charging strategies are required to support an Electric Vehicle (EV) fleet in Ireland. In addition, the project seeks to discover ways to maintain a fully integrated charging system from renewable energy sources. In this respect, the proposed project has three main objectives: (i) Building a model that describes optimal design procedures of non-residential charging infrastructure, while minimising the expenses from an EV fleet owner perspective. (ii) Developing charging strategies for increased use of renewable energy resources without compromising EV user experience and convenience. (iii) Exploring technical challenges and benefits in an Irish context while transitioning to electrified fleets. The findings and lessons learned from this project will facilitate broader EV adoption in Ireland. As such, the models developed in this project can be adopted by any private or public transport fleet manager to inform transitioning their vehicles towards an electric fleet. The recommendations on feasibility provided through the findings will help policy makers prepare successive national mitigation plans into the next decade and beyond, while also supporting planning of national distribution and transmission systems.