Accurate and scalable representation of electric vehicles in energy system models: A virtual storage-based aggregation approach

The growing number of electric vehicles (EVs) will challenge the power system, but EVs may also support system balancing via smart charging. Modeling EVs’ system-level impact while respecting computational constraints requires the aggregation of individual profiles. We show that studies typically rely on too few profiles to accurately model EVs’ system-level impact and that a naïve aggregation of individual profiles leads to an overestimation of the fleet’s flexibility potential. To overcome this problem, we introduce a scalable and accurate aggregation approach based on the idea of modeling deviations from an uncontrolled charging strategy as virtual energy storage. We apply this to a German case study and estimate an average flexibility potential of 6.2 kWh/EV, only 10% of the result of a naïve aggregation. We conclude that our approach allows for a more realistic representation of EVs in energy system models and suggest applying it to other flexible assets.