Abstract

This interim report for Task 4.1 looks into the current sales and market trends for electric vehicles worldwide, as well as in several European countries, and brings out a set of factors that are likely to influence the French market for PEVs in the short term (2020). We identify three main factors as key drivers of the uptake of PEVs in Europe and in France in the near-term future : - Technology improvements and purchase subsidies to reduce the retail price of PEVs ; - Standardisation throughout Europe, as defined by the 2014 EU Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, to lay the ground for wider consumer acceptance ; and - Deployment of fast-charging infrastructure (together with conventional and semi-fast chargers), to reduce “range anxiety” and to promote the use of PEVs for long-distance trips.

Abstract

In this study, we introduce a battery energy storage system (BESS) with reconfigurable cell topology as the direct power source for fast-charging of electric vehicles (EVs). In the proposed scenario, the BESS is following the charging request of the EV by changing its cell topology in a real time fashion. The BESS is modelled at the cell level in order to demonstrate the reconfigurable design, and linked with an EV model. The simulation results confirm that the BESS can maintain a balanced level of its cell states while following the voltage request of the EV with satisfactory precision. However, the approach of adaptive cell switching shows to be not sufficient for fulfilling the current request. Therefore, complementary solutions are necessary to achieve a suitable control of the charging current.