Problems that Electric Vehicles will face in the future

The main idea behind using electric vehicles [EV’s] is to stop the use of non-renewable source of energy like gasoline. For this purpose, all automobile companies are trying their best to develop electric as well as hybrid cars so that the use of gasoline can be restricted to a certain level. New cars like Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf have already been released in the market and they seem to be widely accepted by everyone.

It is sure that in the coming future most of the people will be more interested in these cars rather than the conventional gasoline cars as they turn out to be more economic and environmental friendly. It should be noted that these cars are to be charged in alternate days or so according to their use.  So, with the increasing number of EV’s, the load on the electric grid also increases.

Most people are likely o charge their cars at night. There will not be any load problems with one or two cars kept for charging here and there. But, if a number of cars are kept to charge at the same time under the same transformer, then there will be high stress at the corresponding substation. The problem gets worse if the EV’s are charged during the day. As the power demands are maximum at daytime the load will increase and will surely fail the substation.

The only way to avoid such a problem is by inventing smart meters which have highly efficient response systems. Through such a system, the overload can be easily avoided by giving the car an idle time till the load becomes free. The system should be able to get the correct data regarding the load distribution throughout the city at every fraction of a second. If the load requirements are more at a particular substation, counter measures must be taken to balance the load automatically.

In America, most of the charging stations are placed in parking lots and other municipal facilities. The charging is based on a “LEVEL 2” system. Though this system, the battery charges from a 240 volts charger instead of the conventional 120 volts charger. Through this method, the batteries can be recharged at a much faster rate. On the other hand, a large load will be given to the electrical grid. The load will be as high as the load that is running in 4 houses together. But, if the number of cars increase, the time capsule between each car reduces.