Optimizing Pakistan's Power Grid: A Study on EV Charging Infrastructure Potential

The growing concerns over environmental pollution and decreasing fossil fuel reserves have made the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) grow each day. The biggest challenge in the penetration of EVs is the development of stable and user-friendly charging infrastructures. This work discusses the possibility and capacity of the existing power system to supply the electric vehicle charging infrastructure. First, a critical comparison of various charging schemes has been performed for the current scenario of Pakistan. An optimal charging scheme and a charging model, comprising public parking lots dedicatedly fed from the sub-transmission grid, are proposed. This model would be able to accommodate a large number of EVs for charging and smoothen the load curve of the utility with the proper coordination. The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Lahore parking lot and corresponding grid station's load data have been taken as a reference to demonstrate the results. The results presented are shown to be beneficial both for EV consumers and for utility.