The system value of optimized battery electric vehicle charging: a case study in South Africa

This study quantified the impact of future battery electric vehicle (EV) charging on the least-cost electricity generation portfolio in South Africa (RSA). This was done by performing a capacity expansion optimization of the generation fleet for the year 2040. It was assumed that there would be 2.8 million EVs by 2040, informed by global estimates. Two EV charging scenarios were tested, one using an aggregated fixed charging profile based on existing literature and another where the charging demand was optimized by the power system based on least cost. The results showed that additional capacity was required to meet the demand. For both scenarios, the least-cost capacity investment technologies chosen were the same, although the quantities differed. This indicates that the least-cost technology choice was robust against the charging profiles. The optimized charging profile led to lower system costs and a slightly higher energy share from solar relative to the fixed charging case.