EPRI leads initiative to accelerate EV charging infrastructure
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is heading up a three-year initiative that looks to ready the electric grid to support the accelerated development of EV charging infrastructure.
The initiative – called EVs2Scale2030 – will be done in collaboration with more than 500 stakeholders including Amazon, leading electric companies, fleet operators, auto and truck manufacturers, and charging providers. In addition, the initiative features coordination with U.S. Department of Energy, federal agencies and national labs, the Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and the Alliance for Transportation Electrification.
Founding electric company members include Austin Energy, CenterPoint Energy, Con Edison, FirstEnergy, Great River Energy, National Grid, New York Power Authority, Omaha Public Power District, Pacific Gas & Electric, Portland General Electric, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Salt River Project, Seattle City Light, Southern California Edison, Southern Company, and Xcel Energy. Additional data collaborators include Daimler Truck North America, PACCAR, Volvo Group North America, and World Resources Institute.
“Collaboration, coordination, and standardization will be critical for the U.S. to meet its 2030 EV targets,” EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor said. “EVs2Scale2030 will bring together all of the key industry stakeholders to identify and address the challenges and opportunities needed to drive toward an affordable, equitable, and reliable clean energy future.”
Some of the goals of the effort include the development of a 50-state visualization and 2030 roadmap identifying the aggregated and anonymized electric vehicle loads, grid impacts, utility lead times, workforce requirements, and costs. Another goal is to create an online platform that defines the cross-industry processes needed to support the pace of activity and investment required to meet large-scale electrification by 2030. Also, the initiative seeks to build a secure data exchange platform for fleet operators and charging providers that allows energy companies to better plan and prioritize grid upgrades.
“For the U.S. to meet its ambitious electric vehicle goals, the public and private sectors must unite to address what’s needed,” Brett Carter, chair of EVs2Scale2030 and chief customer officer of Xcel Energy, said. “From wires to wheels and everything in between, consumers need to have confidence in EV charging availability, reliability, and affordability, without compromising current energy resources. EVs2Scale2030 will be essential as we address challenges on behalf of the customers and communities we are privileged to serve.”
Amazon is the first logistics provider to join the effort.
“Amazon is committed to decarbonizing our transportation network, and we’re rapidly rolling out thousands of electric vehicles to help us reach net-zero carbon by 2040,” Udit Madan, vice president of Amazon Transportation, said. “No one company can solve the climate challenge alone, and stakeholders across the industry need to come together to transform fleets at an unprecedented scale and speed to meaningfully impact emissions. We are proud to join EPRI’s EVs2Scale2030 initiative and will continue to work to give utilities the tools and information they need to successfully electrify the transportation sector.”
