Resilience Enhancement Strategies For and Through Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to reduce emissions from the transportation sector and are also capable of providing several services to the power system including resilience during power outages. However, transportation electrification has increased the interdependence of transport and power networks, which could become challenging during periods of extended outages. Consequently, the analysis of the existing literature on the resilience of power systems and EVs is carried out in two parts in this study. In the first part, the use of EVs as a resilience resource for buildings, microgrids, and power systems is discussed. In addition, the use of exhausted EV batteries (second life) for resilience enhancement purposes and collective resilience of power and transport networks are also discussed. In the second part, strategies used for enhancing the resilience of EVs are discussed, which comprise onsite storage deployment, integration of renewable energy sources, design of off-grid charging stations, energy allocation to EVs during outages, and the use of EVs for evacuation during emergencies. Especially, the need to include EVs in making public policies on disaster management is emphasized. Then, the prevailing challenges for realizing these services are discussed along with the research gaps in the existing literature. Finally, several potential research directions are presented to carry out future research based on the existing studies.

Automated summary

This study analyzes the resilience of power systems and electric vehicles (EVs), discussing the use of EVs as a resilience resource and strategies for enhancing EV resilience. The study also highlights the challenges and research gaps in this area.