Latest Electric Vehicle Charging Technology for Smart Grid Application

Abstract

Extensive research and development of the electric vehicle technologies have been conducted into numerous diversified aspects. This paper presented a comprehensive assessment on the recent charger configurations and control strategies of the electric vehicle applications in the smart grid environment. The latest converter topologies of electric vehicle charger were reviewed and discussed in accordance to various charger characteristics, such as the power levels, power flows, placements, connections and structures. Furthermore, the control designs of electric vehicle charger in order to achieve a variety of vehicle charging and smart grid support purposes were presented. The control objectives of vehicle charger included unidirectional rapid charging, bidirectional vehicle to grid charging, power factor correction, reactive power compensation and grid voltage regulation. It is envisaged that the extensive review in this paper will be a valuable resource to further advance this research area.