A Comprehensive Guide to Electric Vehicle Managed Charging

Detailed taxonomy of active and passive managed charging
Survey results outlining utility interest and plans for managed charging programs
Complete list of utility-run managed charging programs, managed charging-capable network service providers, and EV charging equipment manufacturers

The Go-To Resource For The Managed Charging Landscape

Download the two-page summary | Download the Summary & Highlights slide deck

“We referenced [this] SEPA report in our filing to support our rebate strategy. Thanks for all that you do.” – Kate Staples, Manager, Electrification, Dominion Energy

“[This report] will really help utilities that have been unable to start managed charging programs because of lack of knowledge or experience at least get an idea of what can be done.” – Kathy Knoop, Energy Innovation Advisor, Arizona Public Service

Managed charging can yield a suite of benefits touching every part of the electricity marketplace. With a growing charging load that can be flexible and intelligent, EVs are part of the larger discussion around the evolution of the grid and the future of the electric utility industry. For example, managed EV charging can be a powerful tool to better align and balance a power supply that is increasingly diverse, decentralized, renewable, and intermittent with flexible demand.

Smart management of EV charging makes sense for many reasons; however, turning managed charging concepts into mainstream practice requires advances on multiple fronts, such as developing an understanding of the value and market mechanisms, technology, standards and protocols, and established use cases.

This comprehensive guide provides readers with a complete understanding of managed charging, its potential benefits, the current industry state, utility program requirements, how managed charging communication pathways relay signals, and define the vendor landscape to date. This report is packed with never-before-published data collected and vetted by SEPA and numerous experts in the field.

What’s in the Report

Glossary of terms, including active vs. managed charging and vehicle-grid integration
The value of managed charging and opportunities to scale the technology
Benefits and opportunities for managed charging
A proposed Vehicle-Grid Integration Valuation Framework
Market opportunity for managed charging
Three utility-run managed charging case studies
Complete list of managed charging messaging protocols and standards to enable vehicle-grid integration
Alternatives to managing vehicle load control
Managed charging technology and vendors, including network service providers, EV charging equipment manufacturers, and automotive original equipment manufacturers

Download a 2021 update to this report, The State of Managed Charging in 2021.

Member Only Content

SEPA members can access additional bonus materials through the EStore, which include:

1) Datasets with all of the utility-run managed charging programs from 2012-2019, a complete list of network service providers, and a complete list of EV charging manufacturers, and

2) A figure library with high-resolution versions of the figures and tables with corresponding data.