The impact of a electric vehicle charging on the
distribution system
Maksym Oliinyk, Jaroslav Džmura, Daniel Pál
Department of Electric Power Engineering; Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics
Technical University of Košice
Košice, Slovak Republic
maksym.oliinyk@tuke.sk, jaroslav.dzmura@tuke.sk, daniel.pal@tuke.sk
Abstract—the last European directives 2014/94/EU,
2009/28/EC and 2010/31/EU suggest major changes in the
functioning of distribution system operators. This article is aimed
at studying the influence of electric vehicles on the distribution
system. The current electric networks are not ready for the
widespread use of electric cars without the introduction of
modern consumption management systems, storage systems, and
the widespread use of renewable energy sources. The article
demonstrates the results of the implementation of these
directives.
Keywords—smart grid; electric vehicle charging; microgrid.
I. INTRODUCTION
The introduction of the Smart Grid concept is aimed at
increasing the reliability and safety of power supply, increasing
the automation of technological processes in production,
introducing digital devices in everyday life, reducing the cost
of repairs and maintenance, helps to reduce the cost of
electricity. To take advantage of modern technologies, it is
necessary to transform the rules and mechanisms of the
functioning of energy markets, as well as the principles of
operation of electric networks [4]. The idea of ubiquitous
digitalization is to create a new model of the power grid and
the energy market of the future that meets promising
challenges. In the digital energy ecosystem, energy producers
and consumers seamlessly integrate into the common
infrastructure, both technical and information, and exchange
energy and information. The architecture of digital energy is
formed on the following world trends [5]:
• Creation of digital information platforms and
solutions in the field of energy efficiency to meet the
needs of modern and future consumers;
• Reduction of maintenance and management costs
through digital monitoring and predictive analytics;
• Increasing the efficiency of production, distribution
and conservation of energy;
• The use of a wide range of external data along with
energy consumption data to improve energy
efficiency;
• System optimization (for example, increasing the
effective capacity of networks due to better control of
the power flow).
This work was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry
of Education of Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences by the
projects VEGA No. 1/0372/18.
978-1-7281-9479-0/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE
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II. ELECTRIC CARS AS ONE OF THE DRIVERS FOR CHANGING
ELECTRIC NETWORKS
Electric transport is a trend of recent years. Charging stations
for refueling electric vehicles, electric buses, and electric
bicycles are appearing all over the world. However, the
development of charging infrastructure in the world is
different. So far, in some cities and countries, only pilot
projects with one or two connection points are being launched,
while in others, a large number of charging posts are
immediately launched. For example, in 2018, in Sortimo
Innovation Park in Zusmarkhausen (Germany), it is planned to
open a charging station with 144 fast charging points [6].
Nevertheless, the role of charging stations is also important. A
large number of manufacturers imply a variety of technical
solutions, with different characteristics. That is why when
forming the development strategy for electric networks, in
addition to assessing the potential number of load units
(electric vehicles), it is also necessary to take into account the
charging infrastructure and its characteristics [7]. Considering
that the development of the charging network is becoming
widespread and is moving from pilot projects to the national
level, it is important to know what difficulties those network
organizations faced that started work in this direction earlier
than the others and what those who are just starting work on
connecting such devices to the network. A study conducted in
2013 in the USA [8] showed that public charging stations
connected to private networks in the vicinity of crowded places
do not significantly affect the network, as primary equipment
of substations (transformer, etc.) are designed for heavy loads.
The problem arises when owners of electric vehicles install
charging stations in their private houses, living in small towns
consisting of 5-10 houses, or in small sunny regions where no
load was provided, for example, from air conditioners. There
often networks are not designed to significantly increase the
load [8].
According to the estimates of the private German company
Energy Brainpool, if residents of all 28 countries of the
European Union (EU) switch to electric cars by 2050, the
required total capacity will be about 830 TW [9]. The British
grid company National Grid plc, as part of the development of
the UK electric grid development strategy (Future Energy
Scenarious, July 2017), assumes that by 2050 90% of all cars
sold in the country will be electric and the amount of required
electric transport capacity in the country will be 18 GW.
 Fig. 1. Electric Vehicle Forecasts [11][12][13]

Fig. 4. Visualization of the network model

The model was created using the python programming

language. Since the simulation was carried out for a 0.4 kV
network, for calculations was chosen Node Voltage Method
[15]. Visualization of the network model is shown in Figure 4.

Table I shows the number of different elements contained in

the model.
A. Loads
Fig. 2. Electric vehicle sales as a percentage of car sales worldwide between
2020 and 2030, by segment The load represents domestic consumers. The load is set using
the average currents (I) in each phase in 10 minutes. For
Given the prospects for the development of a network of fast modeling, we used data for 1.5 days. An approximate load
charging stations, Italian researchers estimated the potential graph for one consumer is shown in Figure 5.
electricity demand in Milan (Italy) by 2030 at 1.2 MW [10].
TABLE I. THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS IN THE MODEL
III. MODELLING ELECTRIC NETWORK Name Element Numbers
Line 231
Modeling is a very effective process of testing theoretical Loads 155
knowledge and the most accurate design in practice [14]. To Charging for Electric Vehicles 55 (35%)
study the effect of charges on the distribution system, a model Transformer 3
was created on data from a classical village, where we know
the load, approximate distances and types of power lines, and
parameters of transformers. To create a model of the electric
network, the parameters of real equipment were used.
Approximate distribution scheme of the village can be seen in
Figure 3.

Fig. 5. Approximate load graph for one consumer

Fig. 3. Schematic single-line diagram of a distributed network of a village

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B. Electric Car Charger
To create a model of the charging station, the parameters of
the charging station from Schneider Electric were used: the
most affordable EVlink Wallbox Plus -T2 socket outlet -1
phase -16A/3.7kW (fig.6) [16] with the declared power of 3.7
kW (single-phase solution). To calculate the duration of
charging, an Nissan Leaf electric car was used. The declared
battery capacity of this car is 24 kWh [17]. It takes about 7
hours to fully charge this car. The model of the charging
station is a load that is included in the given time intervals.
In reality, the operation of charging stations is a random
variable. Because such parameters as the connection node of
the charging station, the duration of charging the electric
vehicle, and the time the charging station is connected to the
network are random values. To model these variables, the
built-in random function was used. This function randomly
selects a value from a specific range of values. So, to select a
connection point for a charging station, the function selected
from a period of 1 - 155, since the model has 155 home
consumers. For the duration of charging the electric car, a
period of 30 minutes to 5.5 hours was chosen. And the
charging connection time was chosen from three options:
17:00, 19:30, 22:00, two options represent the start time of the
night tariff, and one is the probable time of arrival home after
work. The distribution density of these quantities can be seen
in Figure 7.
Fig. 6. Charge for electric vehicle (EVlink Wallbox ‘Standart’) selected for
modeling [16]
Fig. 7. Distribution density of variables that were selected by the random
function: charging connection node, charging duration, network connection
time.
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IV. NETWORK ANALYSIS
To analyze the effect of charging stations on the functioning
of the electric network, the following parameters were
evaluated:
• Maximum current in the line;
• The average voltage in the network;
• Coefficient of voltage unbalance;
• Loss of active power in the network.
Simulation of the work was carried out with an increase in the
number of charging stations by 5%. Since the selected charges
are single-phase, the number of charging stations was evenly
distributed between the three phases. Upon reaching a value of
35% of the total number of consumers, the maximum current
value exceeded the permissible value, in this regard; a further
increase in the number of charging stations is impractical.
A. Maximum current in the line
Permissible current load is an important parameter for
evaluating the network performance. Upon reaching a critical
value, the protection devices will turn off the power line in
order to avoid violations. The number of simultaneously
operating charging stations affects the current load. The work
of charging stations increases the currents in lines many times
because of an increase in load. The current network is able to
withstand the connection of approximately 35% (55 pcs) of
charging stations (Fig.8). It is worth noting that in the
framework of the simulation, the stations connected at 3
different times, and had different durations, which slightly
stretches the load in time, thereby increasing the number of
simultaneously switched on stations [18].
B. The average voltage in the network
The value of the voltage in the network is an important
qualitative indicator. According to the standards, the voltage
in the network cannot have a deviation of + -10%. As can be
seen in the graphs (Fig 10, 11), already at the work of 20% of
charging stations, the voltage value fell below the value
Fig. 8. Graph of maximum currents in the network.

Fig. 9. Graph of average voltage values in the network.
same. However, the simultaneous inclusion of the load plays
an important role in this qualitative indicator, the more
stations are turned on at the same time, the less asymmetry,
however, the more stations are turned on at the same time, the
greater the currents and the stronger the voltage drop.
D. Loss of active power in the network
The last parameter for analyzing the operation of the
distribution system is the loss of active power. According to
European regulations, losses should not exceed 5% of the
transmitted power. The number of charging stations increases
the load and increases the power loss provocatively; however,
this parameter is not affected by the moment of connection to
the network [21].

Fig. 10. Graph of average voltage values in the network

allowed by the norms. The decomposition of the load in time

here also has a positive effect [19].

C. Coefficient of voltage unbalance Fig. 11. Graph of voltage unbalance factor when changing the number of
charging stations
Since the model is three-phase, it is possible to calculate the
asymmetry coefficient of the voltage in the network, which
appears even with a uniform distribution of charging stations
in 3 phases. Voltage asymmetry is a state of a three-phase
alternating current power supply system in which the rms
values of the main components of the interphase voltages or
the phase angles between the main components of the
interphase voltages are not equal [20].
The quality indicators of electric energy, characterizing the
voltage asymmetry in three-phase systems, are the voltage
asymmetry coefficient in the reverse sequence K2U and the
voltage asymmetry coefficient in the zero sequence K0U. The Fig. 12. Graph of voltage unbalance factor when changing the number of
charging stations
voltage asymmetry coefficient in the reverse sequence is equal
[20]:

Ku = (U2(1) / U1(1)) · 100 (1)

Where U2(1) - is the effective voltage value of the reverse

sequence of the fundamental frequency of the three-phase
voltage system, V; U1(1) - is the effective value of the voltage
of the direct sequence of the fundamental frequency, V.
The results of calculating the voltage asymmetry coefficient
are shown in Figures 12, 13. As can be seen from the graphs
during the operation of the network without charging stations,
the coefficient value is in normal limits. When the charging
stations are turned on, the coefficient value sharply increases, Fig. 13. Dependence of power loss with increasing number of charging
despite the fact that the number of stations in each phase is the stations

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 V. CONCLUSION
This article is about the effect of charging stations for
electric vehicles on the low voltage distribution system. The
analysis confirmed the assumption that existing distribution
networks are not ready to meet the new criteria established by
EU law. According to the analysis, the maximum acceptable
level of implementation of charging stations lies at around 30%
-35% of the total number of consumers. With these values, the
normal functioning of the network is no longer possible.
According to analysts, at the current price of batteries, by 2030,
approximately 20-30% of cars will be electric, which means
that distribution companies need to upgrade the current
network to new conditions. Possible solutions:
• Installation of a control system for charging stations.
Already there are solutions that allow you to control
charging stations. However, it is worth noting that
with an increase in the number of electric vehicles,
these systems will no longer be able to effectively
solve this problem [22].
• An increase in the permissible load of electrical
equipment (an increase in transformer capacities, an
increase in the cross section of power lines, and so
on).
• Installing renewable energy sources with an
accumulation system that could reduce the load during
peak hours.
In our opinion, the most effective option is a combination of all
three solutions. Thus, this will lead to the creation of the so-
called Smart Grid. The next goal will be the creation and
testing of a control system for charging stations for electric
cars, as well as the implementation of renewable energy
sources and energy storage systems.
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