Event Date
"When Will Electric Vehicles Connect to the Grid?"
Abstract:
The transition to electricity-powered personal vehicles poses major challenges. A crucial aspect is the timing of intraday charging of electric vehicles (EVs). Electricity generation costs vary between trough and peak, and the marginal supplier could differ between renewable (clean) or coal (polluting) depending on the hour. We build and estimate a joint equilibrium model for the German electricity and automobile markets, modeling EV owners' optimal charging decisions, vehicle demand, and electricity prices. We rely on rich individual-level data on daily driving patterns and data from charging station demand to investigate when EVs are charged intraday within the current policy framework. We use the model to study the feedback loop between electricity prices and EV demand and the importance of time-varying prices for charging.