Electric Vehicles as Flexible Assets for Households and System Operators: Survey Results

The transition towards electric vehicles (EVs) is a pivotal response to mitigate environmental concerns and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. This survey-based research aims to provide comprehensive insights into the stance of EV users in Croatia on using EVs as assets for flexibility in operation. Users are surveyed about their EV characteristics and habits, emphasizing charging preferences and possible subsidizing. Because of their larger degree of freedom in operation, family home users are further surveyed about their attitude toward load management, investments for additional sources of electricity and flexibility in operation, and advanced electricity billing models to ensure greater savings. Results show a very conservative stance of users toward actions that deteriorate their comfort level. Further on, users that dwell in a family house are prone to investments if it can generate additional savings and maintain or even increase their comfort level. This survey provided valuable findings for researchers in modeling EVs as a flexible asset in energy management studies, especially in the emerging field of energy communities.