{"id":21563,"date":"2022-01-20T10:59:06","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T15:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=21563"},"modified":"2022-01-21T10:58:14","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T15:58:14","slug":"smart-charging-should-be-integral-part-of-a-national-ev-charging-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2022\/01\/20\/smart-charging-should-be-integral-part-of-a-national-ev-charging-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart charging should be integral part of a national EV charging network"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Electric trucks are coming, and they\u2019re coming fast. Just before 2021 drew to a close, New Jersey<\/a>, New York<\/a> and Massachusetts<\/a> joined California, Oregon and Washington to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission trucks with the adoption of the Advanced Clean Truck program. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, securing up to $67 billion in direct investment<\/a> in zero-emission trucks and buses, as well as several critical tax credits to support the purchase and production of zero-emission trucks. And more than 150<\/a> truck fleets are either operating zero-emission trucks or have trucks on order.<\/p>\n

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However, one key challenge that stands in the way of rapid truck electrification is charging infrastructure. In addition, we must solve for the challenge of integrating all of these vehicles into our grid.<\/p>\nSmart charging should be integral part of a national EV charging network <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

The newly formed National EV Charging Initiative<\/a> \u2014 of which Environmental Defense Fund is a founding member \u2014 is a coalition of automakers, power providers, electric vehicle and charging industry leaders, labor, and public interest groups working on this exact challenge. The aim is to secure a national charging network that delivers cleaner air and climate action. One of the guiding principles of the initiative states that \u201celectric utilities, regulators, charging providers and stakeholders should work together to accelerate transportation electrification in a way that supports the electric grid and benefits all utility customers.\u201d To achieve this goal, smart charging must be an integral part of the plan.<\/p>\n

What is smart charging?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smart charging \u2014 that is, charging at low-cost, beneficial times \u2014 can come in a variety of forms.<\/p>\n

The most common form of smart charging is managed charging or V1G, which refers to shifting the amount of energy or time of charging to accommodate an external factor, such as price or grid condition. Managed charging can be accomplished by using the flexibility of the battery in the vehicle itself, or by managing the energy consumption of all \u201cbehind the meter\u201d assets, such as onsite solar and storage \u2014 increasingly common features in truck depot charging.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, smart charging can refer to V2G (vehicle to grid) or V2B (vehicle to building) services where these charging assets can provide backup power or resiliency services. Given some vehicle types, such as school buses, are often sitting idle for hours at a time \u2014 during which they can be charging or providing energy \u2014 it is a missed opportunity to not utilize these resources as a way to benefit customers more broadly.<\/p>\n

Some of the benefits of smart charging include:<\/strong><\/p>\n