The move by California regulators to approve protocols on submetering technology to enable EV owners to measure energy consumption separately from their other utility consumption is positive for EV owners, utility providers and for enablement of future technologies. Having a clear understanding of the optimum time of day and duration to charge an EV helps keep consumer costs down but also helps utility providers to create tariffs which best suit individual requirements and overall can help grid level operations forecast peak usage time across cities, states & countries.
Submetering is also likely to aid in the rollout of functions such as vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-home initiatives, where an EV’s battery can essentially be used as an energy store by its owner and either fed back to the grid or directly to home for usage during peak times, both reducing overall cost of ownership and helping to balance energy demand during busy periods.
SAR’s EV Charging Service sizes and forecasts the market for both public and private charging infrastructure and on-board chargers, highlighting the opportunities which exist as a result of this market development.
