In the global pursuit of sustainable energy, Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) have emerged as critical tools to combat climate change and drive cleaner mobility. Smart charging technologies, leveraging advanced grids and digital connectivity, offer immense potential to optimize PEV charging, enhance grid stability, and lower operational costs.
This project proposal focuses on a comprehensive market research initiative to answer a fundamental question: How open are users to adopting smart charging solutions for PEVs? The primary goal is to deeply understand the factors influencing consumer choices regarding these technologies, examining awareness, perceived benefits, and potential barriers. Through surveys, interviews, and rigorous data analysis, we aim to uncover consumer preferences, expectations, and concerns, considering attributes like compensation, electricity pricing, charging speed, and more. By doing so, we contribute timely insights to stakeholders in the electric vehicle industry, aligning with global sustainability goals and fostering a smarter, more environmentally responsible future for electric vehicle charging.
2. Introduction
The global push for sustainable energy solutions has brought Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) to the forefront as a vital element in combating climate change and achieving cleaner mobility. In this context, the integration of smart charging technologies emerges as an opportunity to enhance the role of PEVs in a sustainable future. These technologies, harnessing advanced grid systems and digital connectivity, hold the promise of optimizing PEV charging processes, improving grid stability, and reducing costs.
This project proposal focuses on a comprehensive market research initiative aimed at answering a fundamental question: How receptive are users to the adoption of smart charging solutions for PEVs? The central objective is to delve deep into the factors influencing consumer choices regarding smart charging technologies for electric vehicles. Our project aims to uncover the awareness levels, perceived benefits, and potential barriers associated with smart charging among PEV owners. We will employ a combination of surveys, interviews, and rigorous data analysis to gain insights into consumer preferences, expectations, and concerns regarding smart charging for PEVs.
This project takes a comprehensive approach, examining various attributes, including compensation, electricity price, charging speed, charging window, and charging percentage. Our survey questions are based on these attributes to develop a nuanced understanding of user attitudes toward smart charging. Additionally, we will assess the influence of compensation on adoption rates. The anticipated outcomes promise invaluable insights for stakeholders across the electric vehicle industry, including manufacturers, utilities, policymakers, and technology providers. While we recognize the importance of regional policies and infrastructure in the real world, these attributes won’t be quantified in our study.
In an era marked by growing environmental awareness and the increasing importance of sustainable transportation, this project is a timely effort to accelerate the transition to cleaner and more efficient mobility solutions. It aligns with global energy sustainability goals, underscores the imperative to reduce carbon emissions, and contributes to shaping a smarter, more connected, and environmentally responsible landscape for electric vehicle charging.
3. Market Opportunity & Target Population
3.1 Market Opportunity
There is a rapidly growing market for smart charging, the growth in this market is driven by several factors. The primary 3 factors are:
Rapid Growth of Electric Vehicles: There is a significant impact on the development and adoption of smart charging technologies due to the rapid increase in the use of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV). There is also an increase in demand for robust and widespread charging infrastructure as more people and businesses adopt PEVs, which also induces a heavy congestion on the grid especially during peak hours. This surge in the adoption of PEVs has led to the innovation and investment into smart charging technologies for a more advanced and cost-effective solution to traditional charging.
Grid Optimization and Stability: Smart charging systems distribute the charging load evenly throughout the day to prevent spikes in the electricity demand during peak hours to maintain grid stability, avoid disruptions and enhance efficiency, by scheduling PEV charging during non-peak hours. Smart charging can also control the charging demand by allowing the grid to send signals to temporarily reduce or stop charging during peak hours to avoid straining the system.
Sustainability and Environmental goals: Smart charging systems can integrate renewable sources into the energy mix, Smart charging can be designed to prioritize and optimize the use of renewable energy for EV charging when it is most abundant. This use of Renewable energy helps in lowering the carbon footprint caused due to PEV charging. Incentives such as reduced electricity costs during off-peak hours are provided to PEV users that use smart charging systems to charge their PEVs.
3.2 Target Population
Individual PEV owners: Smart charging systems significantly benefit individual PEV owners; smart charging allows individual PEV owners to schedule their charging sessions to their preferred time and time intervals depending on their needs. With smart charging, PEV owners can take advantage of off-peak electricity rates, by scheduling charging during low demand hours, it gives the users the option to remotely control and monitor their PEV charging through various apps and web interfaces. Additionally, in some regions governments offer incentives or rebates to encourage the adoption of smart charging systems for their PEVs. Renewable energy can also be integrated into the charging sources of a smart charger to further help in reducing the cost of electricity.
Potential PEV customers: PEV smart charging systems can have a substantial impact on potential PEV buyers, influencing their decisions and overall perception of electric vehicles. Smart charging systems offer these potential buyers flexibility in their charging options, by allowing them to schedule and optimize charging times based on their requirements. Smart charging systems also offer features like off-peak charging which helps users in cost saving on their electricity bill. PEV users have access to incentive programs, subsidies, or tax credits offered by the government for utilizing smart charging solutions which in turn attracts more people into buying Electric vehicles. Additionally In the case of range anxiety, smart charging systems optimize charging schedules and help users locate nearby charging stations instilling potential buyers with confidence and mitigating range anxiety. The cutting-edge technology and innovation incorporated into smart charging systems attract the tech-savvy people into buying electric vehicles.
Fleet Operators and Businesses: Fleet operators and businesses can ensure efficient charging distribution to avoid overloading the electric grid during peak hours by implementing smart charging systems to manage and optimize charging schedules of the multiple PEVs within the fleet. Additionally, smart charging systems also provide real-time data and insights into charging patterns, energy usage and fleet charging status. Using this data, fleet managers and businesses can plan operations, optimize routes, and ensure that the fleet is charged for the day’s activities. The existing fleet management systems can be integrated with smart charging systems, allowing seamless coordination of charging with other fleet-related activities. This integration can further enhance operational efficiency and simply fleet management.
4. Policy Options
4.1 Identify Policy Options
For the scope of our research, we are currently focusing solely on one policy: smart charging. The summary table with its pros and cons is listed below.
Smart Charging means to take control of the charging process. To be more specific, the grid provider (aka the utility) controls the charging time and charging speed based on the grid usage and the time window that the users agree to.
Reduces strain on the grid during peak periods.
Leverages off-peak electricity rates to result in savings on electricity price.
Reduces carbon emissions and has environmental benefits.
Improves grid management and reliability.
Offers automated scheduling and remote control for user convenience.
May require additional infrastructure and can be costly.
EV users might need to change their charging habit which might pose a challenge to adaptability.
Configuring and managing smart charging may require technical expertise.
Initial setup might be costly even though it’s cheaper in the longer run.
4.2 Identify Policy Attributes
The policy attributes that are the most important for the scope of our research are listed below:
Upfront Compensation: In our context, “compensation” or “incentive” refers to the rewards or incentives given to EV owners who take part in smart charging. These incentives motivate EV owners to provide feedback and insights, helping to promote the adoption of smart charging. For the scope of our research compensation will be in two parts: the up-front direct payment to PEV owners, and percentage discount of electricity price. This part is the upfront direct payment.
Electricity Price Discount: This part follows the previous attribute, and counts as the second part of the incentive. Note that this attribute is the “discount”, not the electricity price, since the price is not a controllable variable. However, there are 2 ways to execute the discount: either a preset price of discount, or a preset rate. The team chooses to do “preset rate”.
Charging Speed: “Charging Speed” refers to how quickly an electric vehicle’s battery is recharged, usually measured in Kilowatts(kW). However, for the ease of customer engagement, it is better to transfer the speed to “mileage per hour”, and leave the options to “Yes” or “No” for a free Lv 2 charger. It is important to understand how smart charging can optimize and enhance this charging speed for greater efficiency and user convenience.
Charging Window: “Charging Window” refers to the preferred time frame for electric vehicle owners to change their vehicles. The team provides 3 options: 24/7, 5pm to 5am, and 5pm to midnight.
Guaranteed Range: This is the guaranteed threshold for initiating the smart charging program. Before this threshold, regular charging will be applied. The team gave up the direct use of percentages, and switched to guaranteed range. The mileage of different cars are varied. 50% of a giant SUV will be very different from 50% of a compact sedan. Therefore, based on this difference, it is better to set a mileage threshold rather than percentage threshold. A question can be: “What is the maximum mileage of your EV?” Based on the responses, the succeeding questions can have the percentage calculated and shown, so that the participant both see the guaranteed mileage and the equivalent percentage. One extra benefit is that, for users with only Lv 1 charger installed, a free Lv 2 charger delivered along with the smart charging program will ensure a fast charging for both “below the threshold” and “low payload night time”, which will be a smart booster compared with the original charging mechanics.
5. Research Questions
The research questions were generated with respect to PI John Paul Helveston’s proposal, and were tailored to the size of this pilot project.
Research Question 1: How to encourage PEV owners and candidates to smart charging?
This research question is the primary objective of this project. The team wants to know the reasonable amount of incentives to encourage the PEV owners and candidates, and to what extent that the users can tolerate their charging experience being controlled.
Research Question 2: For a given grid provider, what is the least cost program to incentive adoption?
This research question comes along with the first one. There are different options for smart charging programs. The team wants to know, for a given grid provider, how to balance the cost and benefit in the program design.
Research Question 3: What characteristics of the customers will make them more likely to get engaged with the project?
RQ 2 focuses on the utility provider side, and RQ 3 is more on the customer side. The purpose of this question is to find out what characteristics are most effective. The characteristics can be gender, age, race, education, income, etc.
6. Executional Questions
Apart from the research questions, there are also questions regarding the research execution. The executional questions are listed below, with some early thoughts and explanations to each of them.
Executional Question 1: What is the questionnaire structure and how to design the survey questions?
The questionnaire structure should be some basic single answer questions in the beginning, followed by conjoint questions. The single answer questions can ask about the user’s age, gender, income, possession of PEV, etc. The conjoint questions will be released on formr.org. The detailed contents of each conjoint question should be carefully designed, discussed, and debated.
Executional Question 2: Who will be taking the survey, and how to invite them?
The survey will be in two stages. The first stage is called “Test”. It will be performed among teammates. This stage is easy to perform since we expect a fast and complete reply. However, since there is no guarantee that the teammates will possess a PEV or plan to purchase, the results may not come out as expected.
The second stage is called “Pilot”. This will be a real survey opening to the public. Budgets will be provided to ensure willingness and completeness. However, the hard part is to locate and zoom in to the real PEV owners or candidates, otherwise the results will be polluted.
Executional Question 3: How to specify reasonable ranges of attributes?
There are 5 attributes in total, each of which should have a reasonable range. For example, the up-front compensation should have a minimum and a cap. The minimum can be set as zero, but the cap should be carefully defined: if the cap is too small, the persuasiveness will be weak, not enough to welcome the users’ participation; if otherwise too big, the utility supplier will be wasting budget.
Executional Question 4: How to extract useful information from the survey results? What if the results are significantly different from theoretical expectations?
The objective of this project is not only to design and perform the survey, but rather to perform data analysis on the survey results and generate useful recommendations to the smart charging program. Therefore, there are two things to consider: firstly, the data analysis process should be convincing to extract useful information from the survey results; secondly, there should be a good explanation and further solutions if the results fail to qualify the expectations.
7. Literature Review
The team has found 5 valuable literature resources strongly related with the project. Below are the summaries of them:
Project PI Helveston (2023) has developed the R packages of logitr, which is a handy tools for Discrete Choice Modeling. This literature has proved the feasibility of the logitr package for fast maximum likelihood estimation of MNL (Multinomial Logit) and MXL (Mixed Logit) models, and has provided step-to-step instructions of how to reproduce and expand to other DCM cases. The logitr R package can handle both preference space and WTP (willingness-to-pay) space utility models, and can apply multi-start optimization loops for non-convex log-likelihood models.
This literature is the core reference of methodology of our project.
Tarroja and Hittinger (2021) have accomplished a research on PEV smart charging and V2G (Vehicle to Grid) charging in a “highly decarbonized” region in California. The study has revealed positive outcomes for both smart charging and V2G charging approaches.
Smart Charging, or “controlled charging”, means to take control of the charging process. To be more specific, the grid provider (aka the utility) controls the charging time and charging speed based on the grid usage and the time window that the users agree to. V2G Charging means to utilize the PEVs as electricity storage and charge back to the grid.
This study has 3 research questions:
With the increase of PEV drivers’ willingness to participate in the smart charging program, to what extent will GHG emission be reduced?
Originally, grid providers had to buy stationary energy storage to meet the GHG emission reduction goal. If this goal is achieved with the smart charging program, what are the monetary savings?
How does the monetary saving per PEV compare to the cost of purchasing a new PEV?
This literature is the core reference of feasibility of our project.
Parsons et al. (2014) conducted a survey on V2G adoption. V2G means EVs can send power back to the grid. By doing so, EV owners can get benefits. This study shows that V2G helps promoting EVs to the market. It also shows both “pay-as-you-go” and upfront discounts one the EV prices are preferred. On the contrary, it is a bad idea to have fixed requirements on participants.
Bailey et al. (2023) performed a field experiment that aimed to evaluate how EV owners react to different stimuli in the decision of controlled charging.
There are two strategies in this study: financial incentives and moral suasion “nudges”. Financial incentives were proved to be effective, so that EV owners altered their charging behaviors to obtain financial feedback. However, moral suasion “nudges” were not so effective.
Another observation is that, once the financial incentives were removed, the EV owners went back to original charging habits, suggesting that the behavior change was not internalized and did not turn into habit. It was PURELY in response to the financial benefits.
Wong et al. (2023) discussed about the acceptance of EV smart charging among EV owners, potential EV buyers, and the general population. The research was conducted in 2018 among 785 participants using a survey and choice models. A survey is counted as “stated preference”. It is less convincing than “revealed preference”. Stated preference means what people “claim” to do, and revealed preference means what they “actually” did.
This study has provided sufficient reference of ongoing smart charging programs, which can be a very good reference for our project.
8. Attribution
This project proposal is based on the PEV Smart Charging Adoption proposal written by PI John Paul Helveston. This pilot study is a very good starting point for further research. The job breakdown of this proposal is as follows:
Bailey, Megan R., David P. Brown, Blake C. Shaffer, and Frank A. Wolak. 2023. “Show Me the Money! Incentives and Nudges to Shift Electric Vehicle Charge Timing.”National Bureau of Economic Research, August. https://doi.org/10.3386/w31630.
Helveston, John Paul. 2023. “Logitr: Fast Estimation of Multinomial and Mixed Logit Models with Preference Space and Willingness-to-Pay Space Utility Parameterizations.”Journal of Statistical Software 105 (February): 1–37. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v105.i10.
Parsons, George R., Michael K. Hidrue, Willett Kempton, and Meryl P. Gardner. 2014. “Willingness to Pay for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Electric Vehicles and Their Contract Terms.”Energy Economics 42 (March): 313–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2013.12.018.
Tarroja, Brian, and Eric Hittinger. 2021. “The Value of Consumer Acceptance of Controlled Electric Vehicle Charging in a Decarbonizing Grid: The Case of California.”Energy 229 (August): 120691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.120691.
Wong, Stephen D., Susan A. Shaheen, Elliot Martin, and Robert Uyeki. 2023. “Do Incentives Make a Difference? Understanding Smart Charging Program Adoption for Electric Vehicles.”Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 151 (June): 104123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2023.104123.
Source Code
---title: "Project Proposal - Smart Charging for PEVs"subtitle: "Quantifying the Benefits and Constraints of Plug-In Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Adoption"date: "Sept 24, 2023"bibliography: ../references.bib---```{r}#| label: setup#| include: falselibrary(tidyverse)library(knitr)library(kableExtra)library(here)```## 1. Abstract::: {style="text-align: center;"}{fig-alt="Smart charging helps avoid peak load" width="600"} <br> ***Figure 1**. Smart charging helps avoid peak load* [@BartzStockmar2018]:::In the global pursuit of sustainable energy, Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) have emerged as critical tools to combat climate change and drive cleaner mobility. Smart charging technologies, leveraging advanced grids and digital connectivity, offer immense potential to optimize PEV charging, enhance grid stability, and lower operational costs.This project proposal focuses on a comprehensive market research initiative to answer a fundamental question: How open are users to adopting smart charging solutions for PEVs? The primary goal is to deeply understand the factors influencing consumer choices regarding these technologies, examining awareness, perceived benefits, and potential barriers. Through surveys, interviews, and rigorous data analysis, we aim to uncover consumer preferences, expectations, and concerns, considering attributes like compensation, electricity pricing, charging speed, and more. By doing so, we contribute timely insights to stakeholders in the electric vehicle industry, aligning with global sustainability goals and fostering a smarter, more environmentally responsible future for electric vehicle charging.## 2. IntroductionThe global push for sustainable energy solutions has brought Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) to the forefront as a vital element in combating climate change and achieving cleaner mobility. In this context, the integration of smart charging technologies emerges as an opportunity to enhance the role of PEVs in a sustainable future. These technologies, harnessing advanced grid systems and digital connectivity, hold the promise of optimizing PEV charging processes, improving grid stability, and reducing costs.This project proposal focuses on a comprehensive market research initiative aimed at answering a fundamental question: How receptive are users to the adoption of smart charging solutions for PEVs? The central objective is to delve deep into the factors influencing consumer choices regarding smart charging technologies for electric vehicles. Our project aims to uncover the awareness levels, perceived benefits, and potential barriers associated with smart charging among PEV owners. We will employ a combination of surveys, interviews, and rigorous data analysis to gain insights into consumer preferences, expectations, and concerns regarding smart charging for PEVs.This project takes a comprehensive approach, examining various attributes, including compensation, electricity price, charging speed, charging window, and charging percentage. Our survey questions are based on these attributes to develop a nuanced understanding of user attitudes toward smart charging. Additionally, we will assess the influence of compensation on adoption rates. The anticipated outcomes promise invaluable insights for stakeholders across the electric vehicle industry, including manufacturers, utilities, policymakers, and technology providers. While we recognize the importance of regional policies and infrastructure in the real world, these attributes won't be quantified in our study.In an era marked by growing environmental awareness and the increasing importance of sustainable transportation, this project is a timely effort to accelerate the transition to cleaner and more efficient mobility solutions. It aligns with global energy sustainability goals, underscores the imperative to reduce carbon emissions, and contributes to shaping a smarter, more connected, and environmentally responsible landscape for electric vehicle charging.## 3. Market Opportunity & Target Population {#market-opportunity-target-population}### 3.1 Market OpportunityThere is a rapidly growing market for smart charging, the growth in this market is driven by several factors. The primary 3 factors are:**Rapid Growth of Electric Vehicles**: There is a significant impact on the development and adoption of smart charging technologies due to the rapid increase in the use of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV). There is also an increase in demand for robust and widespread charging infrastructure as more people and businesses adopt PEVs, which also induces a heavy congestion on the grid especially during peak hours. This surge in the adoption of PEVs has led to the innovation and investment into smart charging technologies for a more advanced and cost-effective solution to traditional charging.**Grid Optimization and Stability**: Smart charging systems distribute the charging load evenly throughout the day to prevent spikes in the electricity demand during peak hours to maintain grid stability, avoid disruptions and enhance efficiency, by scheduling PEV charging during non-peak hours. Smart charging can also control the charging demand by allowing the grid to send signals to temporarily reduce or stop charging during peak hours to avoid straining the system.**Sustainability and Environmental goals**: Smart charging systems can integrate renewable sources into the energy mix, Smart charging can be designed to prioritize and optimize the use of renewable energy for EV charging when it is most abundant. This use of Renewable energy helps in lowering the carbon footprint caused due to PEV charging. Incentives such as reduced electricity costs during off-peak hours are provided to PEV users that use smart charging systems to charge their PEVs.### 3.2 Target Population**Individual PEV owners**: Smart charging systems significantly benefit individual PEV owners; smart charging allows individual PEV owners to schedule their charging sessions to their preferred time and time intervals depending on their needs. With smart charging, PEV owners can take advantage of off-peak electricity rates, by scheduling charging during low demand hours, it gives the users the option to remotely control and monitor their PEV charging through various apps and web interfaces. Additionally, in some regions governments offer incentives or rebates to encourage the adoption of smart charging systems for their PEVs. Renewable energy can also be integrated into the charging sources of a smart charger to further help in reducing the cost of electricity.**Potential PEV customers**: PEV smart charging systems can have a substantial impact on potential PEV buyers, influencing their decisions and overall perception of electric vehicles. Smart charging systems offer these potential buyers flexibility in their charging options, by allowing them to schedule and optimize charging times based on their requirements. Smart charging systems also offer features like off-peak charging which helps users in cost saving on their electricity bill. PEV users have access to incentive programs, subsidies, or tax credits offered by the government for utilizing smart charging solutions which in turn attracts more people into buying Electric vehicles. Additionally In the case of range anxiety, smart charging systems optimize charging schedules and help users locate nearby charging stations instilling potential buyers with confidence and mitigating range anxiety. The cutting-edge technology and innovation incorporated into smart charging systems attract the tech-savvy people into buying electric vehicles.**Fleet Operators and Businesses**: Fleet operators and businesses can ensure efficient charging distribution to avoid overloading the electric grid during peak hours by implementing smart charging systems to manage and optimize charging schedules of the multiple PEVs within the fleet. Additionally, smart charging systems also provide real-time data and insights into charging patterns, energy usage and fleet charging status. Using this data, fleet managers and businesses can plan operations, optimize routes, and ensure that the fleet is charged for the day's activities. The existing fleet management systems can be integrated with smart charging systems, allowing seamless coordination of charging with other fleet-related activities. This integration can further enhance operational efficiency and simply fleet management.## 4. Policy Options### 4.1 Identify Policy OptionsFor the scope of our research, we are currently focusing solely on one policy: smart charging. The summary table with its pros and cons is listed below.```{r}policy_options <-read_csv(here('pilot','data','policy_options.csv'))policy_options %>%kable(format ='html',escape =FALSE,align =c('l', 'l', 'l', 'l')) %>%kable_styling(full_width =FALSE,bootstrap_options =c("striped", "hover")) %>%column_spec(column =3, width ='20em') %>%column_spec(column =4, width ='20em')```### 4.2 Identify Policy AttributesThe policy attributes that are the most important for the scope of our research are listed below:1. **Upfront Compensation:** In our context, "compensation" or "incentive" refers to the rewards or incentives given to EV owners who take part in smart charging. These incentives motivate EV owners to provide feedback and insights, helping to promote the adoption of smart charging. For the scope of our research compensation will be in two parts: the up-front direct payment to PEV owners, and percentage discount of electricity price. This part is the upfront direct payment.2. **Electricity Price Discount:** This part follows the previous attribute, and counts as the second part of the incentive. Note that this attribute is the "discount", not the electricity price, since the price is not a controllable variable. However, there are 2 ways to execute the discount: either a preset price of discount, or a preset rate. The team chooses to do "preset rate".3. **Charging Speed:** "Charging Speed" refers to how quickly an electric vehicle's battery is recharged, usually measured in Kilowatts(kW). However, for the ease of customer engagement, it is better to transfer the speed to "mileage per hour", and leave the options to "Yes" or "No" for a free Lv 2 charger. It is important to understand how smart charging can optimize and enhance this charging speed for greater efficiency and user convenience.4. **Charging Window:** "Charging Window" refers to the preferred time frame for electric vehicle owners to change their vehicles. The team provides 3 options: 24/7, 5pm to 5am, and 5pm to midnight.5. **Guaranteed Range:** This is the guaranteed threshold for initiating the smart charging program. Before this threshold, regular charging will be applied. The team gave up the direct use of percentages, and switched to guaranteed range. The mileage of different cars are varied. 50% of a giant SUV will be very different from 50% of a compact sedan. Therefore, based on this difference, it is better to set a mileage threshold rather than percentage threshold. A question can be: "What is the maximum mileage of your EV?" Based on the responses, the succeeding questions can have the percentage calculated and shown, so that the participant both see the guaranteed mileage and the equivalent percentage. One extra benefit is that, for users with only Lv 1 charger installed, a free Lv 2 charger delivered along with the smart charging program will ensure a fast charging for both "below the threshold" and "low payload night time", which will be a smart booster compared with the original charging mechanics.## 5. Research QuestionsThe research questions were generated with respect to PI John Paul Helveston's proposal, and were tailored to the size of this pilot project.**Research Question 1**: How to encourage PEV owners and candidates to smart charging?This research question is the primary objective of this project. The team wants to know the reasonable amount of incentives to encourage the PEV owners and candidates, and to what extent that the users can tolerate their charging experience being controlled.**Research Question 2**: For a given grid provider, what is the least cost program to incentive adoption?This research question comes along with the first one. There are different options for smart charging programs. The team wants to know, for a given grid provider, how to balance the cost and benefit in the program design.**Research Question 3**: What characteristics of the customers will make them more likely to get engaged with the project?RQ 2 focuses on the utility provider side, and RQ 3 is more on the customer side. The purpose of this question is to find out what characteristics are most effective. The characteristics can be gender, age, race, education, income, etc.## 6. Executional QuestionsApart from the research questions, there are also questions regarding the research execution. The executional questions are listed below, with some early thoughts and explanations to each of them.**Executional Question 1**: What is the questionnaire structure and how to design the survey questions?The questionnaire structure should be some basic single answer questions in the beginning, followed by conjoint questions. The single answer questions can ask about the user's age, gender, income, possession of PEV, etc. The conjoint questions will be released on formr.org. The detailed contents of each conjoint question should be carefully designed, discussed, and debated.**Executional Question 2**: Who will be taking the survey, and how to invite them?The survey will be in two stages. The first stage is called "Test". It will be performed among teammates. This stage is easy to perform since we expect a fast and complete reply. However, since there is no guarantee that the teammates will possess a PEV or plan to purchase, the results may not come out as expected.The second stage is called "Pilot". This will be a real survey opening to the public. Budgets will be provided to ensure willingness and completeness. However, the hard part is to locate and zoom in to the real PEV owners or candidates, otherwise the results will be polluted.**Executional Question 3**: How to specify reasonable ranges of attributes?There are 5 attributes in total, each of which should have a reasonable range. For example, the up-front compensation should have a minimum and a cap. The minimum can be set as zero, but the cap should be carefully defined: if the cap is too small, the persuasiveness will be weak, not enough to welcome the users' participation; if otherwise too big, the utility supplier will be wasting budget.**Executional Question 4**: How to extract useful information from the survey results? What if the results are significantly different from theoretical expectations?The objective of this project is not only to design and perform the survey, but rather to perform data analysis on the survey results and generate useful recommendations to the smart charging program. Therefore, there are two things to consider: firstly, the data analysis process should be convincing to extract useful information from the survey results; secondly, there should be a good explanation and further solutions if the results fail to qualify the expectations.## 7. Literature ReviewThe team has found 5 valuable literature resources strongly related with the project. Below are the summaries of them:1. Project PI @helveston2023 has developed the R packages of [**logitr**](https://jhelvy.github.io/logitr/), which is a handy tools for Discrete Choice Modeling. This literature has proved the feasibility of the logitr package for fast maximum likelihood estimation of MNL (Multinomial Logit) and MXL (Mixed Logit) models, and has provided step-to-step instructions of how to reproduce and expand to other DCM cases. The logitr R package can handle both preference space and WTP (willingness-to-pay) space utility models, and can apply multi-start optimization loops for non-convex log-likelihood models. **This literature is the core reference of methodology of our project.**2. @tarroja2021 have accomplished a research on PEV smart charging and V2G (Vehicle to Grid) charging in a "highly decarbonized" region in California. The study has revealed positive outcomes for both smart charging and V2G charging approaches. **Smart Charging**, or "controlled charging", means to take control of the charging process. To be more specific, the grid provider (aka the utility) controls the charging time and charging speed based on the grid usage and the time window that the users agree to. **V2G Charging** means to utilize the PEVs as electricity storage and charge back to the grid. This study has 3 research questions: 1. With the increase of PEV drivers' willingness to participate in the smart charging program, to what extent will GHG emission be reduced? 2. Originally, grid providers had to buy stationary energy storage to meet the GHG emission reduction goal. If this goal is achieved with the smart charging program, what are the monetary savings? 3. How does the monetary saving per PEV compare to the cost of purchasing a new PEV? **This literature is the core reference of feasibility of our project.**3. @parsons2014 conducted a survey on V2G adoption. V2G means EVs can send power back to the grid. By doing so, EV owners can get benefits. This study shows that V2G helps promoting EVs to the market. It also shows both "pay-as-you-go" and upfront discounts one the EV prices are preferred. On the contrary, it is a bad idea to have fixed requirements on participants.4. @bailey2023 performed a field experiment that aimed to evaluate how EV owners react to different stimuli in the decision of controlled charging. There are two strategies in this study: financial incentives and moral suasion "nudges". Financial incentives were proved to be effective, so that EV owners altered their charging behaviors to obtain financial feedback. However, moral suasion "nudges" were not so effective. Another observation is that, once the financial incentives were removed, the EV owners went back to original charging habits, suggesting that the behavior change was not internalized and did not turn into habit. It was PURELY in response to the financial benefits.5. @wong2023 discussed about the acceptance of EV smart charging among EV owners, potential EV buyers, and the general population. The research was conducted in 2018 among 785 participants using a survey and choice models. A survey is counted as "stated preference". It is less convincing than "revealed preference". Stated preference means what people "claim" to do, and revealed preference means what they "actually" did. **This study has provided sufficient reference of ongoing smart charging programs, which can be a very good reference for our project.**## 8. AttributionThis project proposal is based on the PEV Smart Charging Adoption proposal written by PI John Paul Helveston. This pilot study is a very good starting point for further research. The job breakdown of this proposal is as follows:- Pingfan Hu has defined the main topic and specified the attributes. Pingfan has done the parts of [5. Research Questions], [6. Executional Questions], and [7. Literature Review].- Bharath Ravindra was responsible for [1. Abstract] and [2. Introduction].- Sampada Dhakal was responsible for [4. Policy Options], which contains Identify Policy Options and Identify Policy Attributes.- Vedanth Surendra Hedge contributed to section [3. Market Opportunity & Target Population](#market-opportunity-target-population).
