EMT-Model-Based HIL Testbed for Large Scale EV-Integrated Distribution Grids

Extreme fast chargers (XFCs) have enabled electric vehicle (EV) charging in less than 15 minutes. These charging units may draw up to 300 kW. An extreme fast charging station (XFCS), made of multiple XFCs, may draw up to a few MW. Grid-integration of these units for EV charging in grid-to-vehicle mode (G2V) mode presents significant power demand and operational challenges for the grid. Whereas in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) mode, they also present an opportunity to enable EV-based grid support services. Cyber vulnerabilities add an additional dimension to it. The present paper develops an electromagnetic transient (EMT)-model-based hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed for large-scale EV-integrated distribution grids. It implements the IEEE 123 bus feeder model to simulate the distribution grid. The proposed testbed has four XFCS with a total of 12 XFC units, each integrated with one EV. This testbed provides flexibility in defining XFC and EV parameters to simulate and analyze the impact of integrating the wide spectrum of EV and XFC technologies. The case study presented in this paper considers a power rating of 300 kW, enabling 100% charging of a typical 50 kWh EV battery in approx 10 minutes. This paper also developed the mathematical model for four types of man-in-the-middle (MitM) cyberattacks on charging control and integrated them into the proposed testbed. Furthermore, the testbed is designed considering the scalability in terms of both charging units/stations as well as a variety of cyberattacks. The testbed is successfully developed and tested using the eMEGASIM platform of the Opal-RT real-time simulator.