This thesis explores the development of mobile charging systems, which could significantly ease the challenges associated with current electric vehicle charging methods. The purpose of this thesis is to develop an autonomous system to fulfil estimated charging demand on a typical day under different conditions to exemplify how mobile charging systems can address these issues.
The research is mainly motivated by the limitations of conventional charging poles, such as their scarcity, lengthy charging times, unregulated demand, and urban space conflicts as EV usage grows. Future EV statistics and charging station projections are presented underscoring how these challenges can be amplified shortly. As an alternative solution, mobile systems are introduced highlighting products, prototypes, and studies in the market and literature. Through stakeholder analysis, these systems are shown to benefit investors, consumers, and the public, supporting the grid, facilitating convenient charging.
The thesis incorporates a charging demand estimation algorithm to simulate the charging tasks on a typical day. This demand estimation is represented as private, public, and workspace charging load, sampled by considering the probability of energy demand and connection times. Next, the study integrates an iterative optimization process to simulate how effectively this demand can be addressed by a robot-like mobile charging system.
The system is simulated with different price scenarios, grid capacity values of 50 and 100 kW, varying the number of units between 3 and 5, and battery sizes between 70 and 400 kWh. As a result, it is demonstrated that mobile charging systems can effectively reduce peak demand by decoupling charging load from the grid while offering more convenient charging experience. The profitability is assessed through energy arbitrage, operational revenues, and energy costs, noting improvements with seasonal effects and higher grid capacity.
The results show that the switchable battery configuration can effectively minimise the required investment costs because of the smaller number of necessary carrier units mobilising the battery units. A switchable battery setup with 3x270 kWh batteries and 2 carriers is identified as cost-effective for public and workplace demand, with a potential increase to 340 kWh for higher returns despite 20% more investment. The sizing process is reiterated for another demand scenario consisting of a private charging load and 260 kWh capacity is highlighted as a cost-effective choice, while the profits can be improved with 310 kWh capacity.
The thesis further discusses the mobility necessities of the system and the performance requirements of the powertrain. To maintain grounding, the study simulates the parking service area of P1 at the TU Delft campus. A driving cycle is developed by taking site measurements and also considering safety concerns and standards. Consequently, energy consumption and maximum power requirement are calculated by also integrating a weight estimation methodology regarding the main components of the system.
Lastly, the thesis introduces different power converter topologies that can act as a bridge between the system and EVs. As a consequence of a comprehensive analysis of different converters and the findings reported in the literature, various topologies are suggested to be used in different cases.