Real-Time Mobile Communication of Power Requirements for Electric Vehicles

The periodic power requirements of an electric vehicle are difficult to predict because the vehicle's location, the amount of charge remaining in its batteries, and the timing of its next charge are not known. For clusters of electric vehicles, the problem is magnified, and there is a risk that the demand will strain and overload a power utility's infrastructure. Operational managers are left with reactive management of the infrastructure that may defer or prevent a vehicle charge to balance power demands and safeguard the infrastructure. In this article, the following key concepts are analyzed to provide background on the problem and to outline the requirements of any solution: i) demand uncertainty and reactive management approaches, ii) electric vehicle power requirements, and iii) demand-management telecommunication capabilities. Then, by abstraction, induction, and creative synthesis, a novel solution to the problem is proposed to provide real-time mobile communication of power requirements. The proposed solution has potential to create new service and business opportunities to managers and entrepreneurs.