Investigating smart charging options for EVs in multi-family residential buildings

Electrification is currently perceived as one of the main solutions for decarbonizing the private transport sector. However, the rise in electricity consumption owing to EV charging can potentially stress the existing domestic electric infrastructure with peak demand, preventing the full exploitation of sustainable mobility in the residential sector. Alternatively, smart charging strategies can be adopted to mitigate this effect, promoting home charging also in multi-family residential buildings, where simultaneous charging events may occur. In this context, this paper intends to point out the benefits of implementing different smart charging strategies for EVs in a residential building, compared to unmanaged charging (or user-managed charging). The approach assumes the mobility habits of household members as an input to estimate EVs charging demand of the whole building. Then the optimal strategies, formulated as Mixed Integer Linear Programming problem integrated within a heuristic algorithm, are simulated with an increased level of flexibility to highlight how the EV charging sessions can be managed to reduce peak demand. The methodology is applied by investigating multiple scenarios with different users’ mobility habits that may influence electricity demand. Results show that, according to the corresponding scenario, peak demand is halved or even reduced by a quarter thanks to the adoption of smart charging.