The coming electric vehicle boom will cause “havoc” in power grids if utilities do not prepare for it, research firm IDC has warned.

 

More than 2.7m electric vehicles will be plugged into the global grid by 2015, with 885,000 in North America and 780,000 in Europe, IDC has forecast in a new report. 

 

“Unfortunately, these vehicles will cause havoc on the distribution grid if they start appearing without any preparation by grid managers,” it said. “The utilities that prepare today for this new reality will be the ones that will win in the long term.”

 

IDC says power utilities will have to carry out major upgrades in distribution equipment, with install advanced transformers required to handle the increased load.

 

“Despite many doubters, this oft-promised technology is finally on the verge of becoming a reality, with more than 540,000 vehicles to be sold globally by 2012,” said IDC Energy Insights Research Manager Sam Jaffe. “The electric utilities industry does not have the luxury of taking a wait-and-see approach… it must begin to prepare for their arrival now.”

 

He said personal electric vehicles (PEVs) could cause transformer overload due to clustering and excessive energy borrowing when cars roam outside of their utility region, he said.

 

“It is best for utilities to prepare for these potential pitfalls today, instead of waiting for when the trickle of PEVs becomes a flood. We believe the utilities that prepare for this new reality will be the ones that win in the long term.”

 

Power utilities will also need to develop new rate structures that allow them to control how and when the vehicles are charged.