Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: Are We Prepared?

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), that is, vehicles that use electric motors as their primary means of power, began to be mass-produced in 2011. The need for electric vehicle charging stations [known as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)] in industrial and commercial facilities is growing and will continue to grow as the number of PEVs increases. Power system engineers will face many challenges when applying the EVSEs to their facility power systems. As there are relatively few EVSEs in use today, the issues in the application of this equipment have yet to be seen. The purpose of this article is to make the reader more familiar with EVSEs by identifying and discussing the standards to which they are designed and built and describing the common features and options that are now available.