Charge e-vehicles during the day, not at night, to save grid

Building out a lot of public daytime charging will be beneficial for the grid but also can help bring charging access to more people, according to researchers. Photo: dpa

To successfully ramp up reliance on electric vehicles over the next decade without overtaxing the power grids, more drivers will need to charge their cars during the day, a US study has found.

The US state of California, which was the focus of the research, needs to drastically increase and improve public and workplace charging infrastructure that supports daytime charging, which can better utilise solar energy, according to the study from Stanford University, published in September in the scientific journal Nature Energy. Increased charging availability will also make electric vehicle ownership more accessible, the study found.