Random access, electric vehicle charge management

In this work, we propose a strategy for managing the charging of Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) that simultaneously avoids overloads and provides equal access to the charging resources. The random access approach leverages techniques developed for media access control (MAC) of shared wireless communication channels. The method has advantages over presently proposed PEV charge management schemes in that it (1) requires no specific knowledge of individual customers, (2) is inherently democratic, and (3) requires very little communications between the vehicle and the power distribution system. The technique could be readily implemented with a charge management device located at the distribution substation, or located along a distribution feeder.