Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are expected to play a role as power grid ancillary service providers through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers, enabling higher levels of renewable electricity penetration. However, to fully exploit the storage capacity of PEVs and fast responsiveness, it is crucial to understand their operational characteristics. This work proposes a characterization procedure for V2G systems providing grid services. It extends the existing literature on response time, AC/DC conversion and reactive power assessment. Illustrative results were obtained by implementing the procedure using a Nissan Leaf battery electric vehicle (BEV) connected to a remotely operated commercial V2G CHAdeMO charger. The V2G system was characterized as having a relative inaccuracy and variability of response inferior to 3% and 0.4%, respectively. Its average communication and ramping times are 2.37 s and 0.26 s/kW, respectively. Its conversion efficiency and power factor both showed degradation in the power values below 50% of the charger’s nominal power. Moreover, the proposed visualizations revealed that: i) the V2G system implements power requests for the DC power flow; ii) the power factor control algorithm was nonoperational; and iii) the acquired data can leverage statistical models that describe the operation of V2G systems (which is of extreme value for researchers and operators).
Grid connected converters as reactive power ancillary service providers: Technical analysis for minimum required DC-link voltage
