CAN DRIVERS OF PLUG-IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE BE PROMPTED TO CHARGE OFF-PEAK?

摘要

Many benefits of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) depend on when during the day those vehiclesare charged. PEV drivers’ accounts of the effects of demand response management (DRM) onthe time of day they charge their PEVs are summarized. Interviews and focus groups wereconducted in San Diego County, CA in spring and fall 2012. Three DRM strategies weredeployed in the study region. First, pricing included both intentional time-of-use (TOU) pricesfor home charging and non-TOU prices for away-from-home charging. Second, technology tosupport PEV drivers’ included timers to control when charging begins and ends. Third, socialmarketing—in this case, past campaigns incorporated into social narratives—promoted privateand social benefits of shifting electricity demand off-peak. The aggregate effect was a storywidely told by respondents about their goal to charge their PEV only during the “super off-peak”period between midnight and 5am. However, drivers’ accounts differed as to their adherence tothis goal because 1) they use prices other than the TOU tariffs to judge whether an electricityprice was high or low, and 2) the TOU price signal may or may not prompt them to incorporate asocial narrative about the susceptibility of the electrical grid during periods of peak demand intotheir behavior. PEV drivers with home photovoltaic systems were the least likely to say theycharge their PEV in accordance with the TOU schedule in part because of their mistaken belieftheir home photovoltaic system insulates the grid from their vehicle charging.