Operational Challenges to Accommodate High Penetration of Electric Vehicles: A Comparison between UK and China

Electric vehicles (EVs) play a key role in transport electrification and decarbonizing the society. EVs are becoming popular due to the advancement of drivetrain and battery technologies, with the support from plummeting costs. However, many countries are facing with challenges to accommodate large-scale adoption of electric vehicles due to the great amount of electricity required from the grid for charging. Current research focuses on developing incentives and tariff structure to encourage EV drivers to charge and discharge at appropriate times. However, relying on driver's behavior can be a risky decision for network operators. A regional high electricity demand at a short instance can cause severe technical challenges for the distribution network, including thermal and voltage limit violations. This paper presents and compares the EV development for the UK and China. A research agenda is proposed to consider how large-scale energy storage would benefit the distribution network for rapid charging of electric vehicles.