The problem the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) initiative has been launched to solve, said Britta Gross, the organization’s director of transportation, is that a massive rollout of electric vehicles and EV chargers is underway, but “there’s not yet a plan or road map that lays out what do we have to be doing to prepare.
“There’s no plan year over year about what we should be doing and what we should be investing in on the grid side to prepare for all those loads coming onto the grid — and [they are] a very different load than building loads, housing loads and so on,” Gross said. “Cars move, trucks move, buses move, and you’ve got to accommodate them where they are, whether it’s in a driveway at home, an apartment or condo, on a highway or at a fleet depot.”
Coming up with that plan will take huge amounts of data and a lot of collaboration from a broad range of industry stakeholders, with electric utilities and their distribution systems playing a central role, Gross said, which is where EPRI and EVs2Scale2030TM come in. The three-year initiative announced Monday is aimed at drawing in as many as 500 industry players — from carmakers to utilities to federal and state agencies — to help scale EVs to 50% of new car sales by 2030.
The starting bench for the initiative includes Amazon, billed as a key “logistics provider,” along with more than a dozen electric utilities, as well as industry trade groups, the Department of Energy’s national laboratories and electric truck manufacturers such as Daimler and Volvo.
Many of those participants will be or, Gross said, already have been providing EPRI with data ― made secure and anonymous ― that is being used to create a range of online planning tools, including:
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- A 50-state, interactive map that will allow anyone to look at potential impacts of transportation electrification over the next three, five or more years, drilling down from the national level to what’s happening on individual transformers and feeder lines.
- An online platform aimed at clarifying and streamlining the processes, such as interconnection and supply chain procurement, needed to support the pace of activity and investment that will accelerate large-scale vehicle electrification.
- An approved and vetted list of charging equipment that meets industry and federal standards.
Gross is beyond excited when she talks about the map and other tools on the way, and the critical role data sharing will play for electric car and truck owners, utilities and regulators.
Data is the foundation of planning and confidence building, which is what the market needs to expand at speed, she said, with the map coming first, possibly within a month or two. “The data has to be granular enough … that utilities can actually take action on feeder-level information, and regulators behind many of the utilities can actually see why proactive investment is the smart thing to do, [making] no-regrets investments on the grid because this is where utilities are stacking up, loads are stacking up,” Gross said.
Gross sees the map and other tools as an interface for connecting utilities and the EV industry. “We’re trying to simplify the landscape for those fleet operators, the charging providers, the manufacturers of vehicles so that they know how to reach the utility industry, so the utility industry is prepared with better tools … so they know how to invest, when to invest,” she said.
Fleet Electrification
On the utility side, Xcel Energy has taken a leading role in the initiative, with Brett Carter, executive vice president and group president of utilities at the company, chairing the Advisory Board. The utility has committed to deliver its customers 100% carbon-free energy by 2050 and already has managed charging and other EV programs, he said.
But it is still in learning mode on fleet electrification as it prepares to electrify all the sedans in its own fleet by the end of the year, Carter said.
“What we’re really looking at is how does the logistics model or mapping look … for the jurisdictions that are really gearing up for some of these larger charging platforms that are being requested by our customers,” Carter said. “It’s one thing solving for the individual customer, the residential customer … where 80% of the charging is going to take place either at home or near home.”
“It’s another thing when you have large rental car companies saying, ‘Hey, we need to turn cars around in 20 to 30 minutes, and so we’re going to be charging several cars at a time at all times of the day,’” he said. “You’ve got to be really smart in how you’re building this infrastructure out to accommodate these large fleets.”
He sees transportation electrification and the EPRI initiative as a way for the transportation industry and utilities to move beyond their traditional adversarial relationship. “There’s a little bit of a misperception about the role utilities should play in this space,” he said. “Our partners are starting to really invite us in to help them as opposed to being adversarial to our participation.”
The Collaborative Imperative
Transportation electrification is driving unprecedented levels of cross-industry collaboration as automakers, utilities, regulators and policymakers look ahead to how they will reach a growing list of ambitious goals. EVs2Scale is based on President Joe Biden’s target for 50% of new vehicle sales in the U.S. to be electric by 2030.
California and at least five other states are pushing ahead with clean car rules that set a 2035 deadline for all new passenger vehicles sold in their jurisdictions to be electric. General Motors has committed to a zero-emission fleet by 2035, while Volvo is shooting for 2030.
Building off these goals, EPRI’s announcement is the third collaborative initiative rolled out in as many weeks. On July 26, seven automakers announced they would form a joint venture to install 30,000 EV fast chargers on U.S. highways and in urban areas. The seven ― BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group and Stellantis NV ― have said the charging stations will be accessible to EVs from all automakers, regardless of the type of charging plug they use. (See Automakers Pledge to Put 30K EV Chargers on US Highways.)
On Aug. 3, the federal Joint Office of Energy and Transportation announced the 23 members of its own EV Working Group (EVWG), which will make recommendations to the Joint Office, other federal agencies and congressional committees.
While Gross stressed that EVs2Scale will focus on data-driven tools and solutions, some overlap between groups seems likely. Like EVs2Scale, the federal working group will look at how to overcome barriers to EV adoption, including charging infrastructure needs, regulation and planning, and equipment standardization ― issues that also could be obstacles for the automakers’ joint venture.
Daimler North America, Xcel Energy and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners have representatives in both EVs2Scale and the EVWG, and an official from the Joint Office is on the Advisory Board of EVs2Scale.
Collaboration also is a key theme in industry statements in EPRI’s announcement.
EPRI CEO Arshad Mansoor said “collaboration, coordination and standardization will be critical for the U.S. to meet its 2030 EV targets.” The new initiative “will bring together all of the key industry stakeholders to identify and address the challenges and opportunities needed to drive toward an affordable, equitable and reliable clean energy future.”
“No one company can solve the climate challenge alone, and stakeholders across the industry need to come together to transform fleets at an unprecedented scale and speed to meaningfully impact emissions,” said Udit Madan, vice president of Amazon Transportation. The company “will continue to work to give utilities the tools and information they need to successfully electrify the transportation sector.”
