Introduction

Alternative forms of mobility such as electric personal vehicles span a vast range of topics overlapping various disciplines. The success of this emerging technology, however, depends on end-user acceptance and market adoption, both of which presuppose economic viability. The feature of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) which is especially attractive to the energy industry as well as vehicle users is the capability to store energy. For the former, this is used in order to perform grid services, while for the latter this ultimately serves mobility needs (Kempton and Tomic 2005; KEMA Inc. and ISO/RTO Council 2010). General integration frameworks covering both technical operation and electricity markets have been proposed (Lopes, Soares, and Almeida 2011). However, depending on whether there is private or public access to charging points, the contractual relations among the interacting agents of the electric power industry can change. Classifying charging scenarios reveals certain implications for new legislation on reselling charging agents (Momber et al. 2011).

Furthermore, the underlying question remains: How can we measure the attractiveness of this new technology monetarily and put a value on electric vehicles for the different agents in the electric power system of the future? Research aims at finding the best points of access to the grid among charging alternatives. Where and how should electric vehicles be optimally employed for all the interested groups?

Business models need to be developed. These should define economic contracts between interacting participants and the resulting surplus distribution. Analyses of the dependence of these models on the electricity markets, ancillary services, utility tariffs, mobility patterns, connection behavior and billing contracts should be performed and thoroughly evaluated.

This study aims to quantify the value of vehicle storage both to the electricity grid and to the driver in a number of ways. Foremost, it endeavors to extend the application of electric vehicles and their storage characteristics to other fields that allow for economic deployment and efficient profitable use of batteries.

Public charging infrastructure remains a controversial topic as far as investment and ownership is concerned; different market models for the roll-out of public charging infrastructures are being discussed (EURELECTRIC 2010).

As the EU wants to facilitate end-user access to variable energy prices in order to incentivize efficient use, the objective of this paper is to develop a model that simulates the charging response to equivalent price volatility by applying a scenario with more and more fluctuation of prices. The effects of intermittent renewable generation from wind and solar power are visible today on the European electricity exchange market and even result in hours with negative prices.

Regardless of the ownership structure, the application of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles heavily influences the capital costs associated with degradation. Similar to any other investment in technologies, the shorter the life of the battery is, the higher are the discounted monetary burdens per time period. Factors such as the capacity, charging rate, cost, cycle life and calendar life are all critical in making batteries commercially and economically viable for EVs. Many of these factors are still largely unknown and have never been tested under real-life conditions and actual time frames. Yet they all have a considerable impact on the value proposition. In order to reach a clear conclusion, the spectrum of battery degradation rates due to both cycle life and calendar life in various climates and operating SOC is needed (Pesaran, Smith, and Markel 2009).

read more