Comparative study of the harmonic impact of different plug-in electric vehicles and charging stations — A Brazilian case study

This paper studies the impact of different plug-in electric vehicles on network harmonic distortions, both at low frequencies and at high frequencies. Extensive measurements have been conducted in four different EVs (both regular passenger vehicles and electric buses), charged through different stations. Fast and slow, commercial and residential charging events were monitored. The collected set of measurements has shown that EV charging does have an impact on harmonic distortion levels. At low frequencies, harmonic voltages are below 4.0% and, therefore, EV impact is limited and unlikely to cause violations of harmonic distortion limits established in the Brazilian regulation (i.e., 10%). At high frequencies, voltage distortions of up to 1.0% of 60 Hz voltage were observed; however, the results are still preliminary and do not offer a reliable conclusion on whether such distortions have the potential to become a concern for utilities or not.