Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Research Facilities

NREL's electric vehicle infrastructure research facilities encompass a wide range of evaluation platform capabilities and leverage energy system integration research and validation.

High-Power Charging Infrastructure and Emulation

The ARIES: Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems research platform validates next-generation hybrid systems and regional energy solutions by combining real-world infrastructure with high-fidelity modeling. Multiple NREL field research sites and facilities work together to combine electric vehicle (EV), building, and grid infrastructure connectivity and automation to de-risk investments through realistic evaluation, system optimization, and cross-sector integration. 

The sites include capabilities that expand to multimegawatt EV charging and grid integration capabilities from the hundreds of kilowatts currently available at NREL's Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) and an emerging site at its Flatirons Campus with the capability to host charging equipment at 13.2 kV for multimegawatt charging of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Also available for EV grid integration research are state-of-the-art ESIF laboratories, which meld crosscutting grid modernization and power system design capabilities in concert with world-class, high-performance computing capabilities.

Electric Vehicle Research Infrastructure Evaluation Platform

At the heart of NREL's EV grid integration research is the state-of-the-art Electric Vehicle Research Infrastructure (EVRI) evaluation platform, which enables researchers as well as industry and utility partners to study and develop optimal strategies for coordinating EVs with buildings, the grid, and other energy systems. Partners can bring in physical devices including charging hardware and vehicles for performance evaluations under varying conditions.

At EVRI, researchers are developing the advanced technologies and control strategies needed to optimize a new generation of transportation technologies within the context of the larger energy ecosystem. Hardware-in-the-loop simulation capabilities integrate both vehicles and buildings from a charge-control standpoint in the Commercial Buildings Research Infrastructure platforms.

Enabling the characterization and development of site-integrated high-power charging systems, EVRI houses flexible electrical infrastructure, including connection to grid and photovoltaic simulators and other distributed energy resources for grid interactivity research; real-time digital simulation (grid- and vehicle-side); a thermal and mechanical evaluation bench for charging connectors and adapters; and a range of charging and energy storage equipment.

Charging equipment includes DC fast chargers ranging from 50 kW for long dwell times to 400 kW for short dwell times, powered by both AC and DC sources; Level 2 AC chargers; and bidirectional AC chargers. These commercial charging systems are used in research validation platforms that leverage NREL's unique charging emulation capabilities to advance charging architectures. The lab supports the development of specific standards—Combined Charging System, North American Charging Standard, and Megawatt Charging System—as well as other charging safety standards.

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