The State of Electric Vehicles In Hawaii Katherine McKenzie Hawaii Natural Energy Institute University of Hawaii at Manoa 1680 East West Road, POST 109 Honolulu, HI 96822 E-mail:
[email protected] Submitted to: Dr. David Block Florida Solar Energy Center University of Central Florida 1679 Clearlake Road Cocoa, FL 32922 E-mail:
[email protected] Purchase Order Number: 291166 Report Number: HNEI-05-15 March 2015 1 Executive Summary Hawaii ranks as one of the top states in Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption thanks to limited driving distances, moderate climate and supportive policies. This trend is already adding a significant additional electric load on some circuits of the power grid. That creates challenges along with opportunities to help balance the rapid growth in intermittent renewable resources. Hawaii also leads the nation in photovoltaic (PV) power generated per capita as a result of the strong Figure 1. A Tesla charging at the University of Hawaii on solar resource, tax incentives and electricity costs that Clean Energy Day in 2009. (Kanaka Menehune/Flickr) are three times the national average. In many neighborhoods, PV power generation at mid-day exceeds the demand for electricity, (often surpassing 120% of the daytime minimum load). Teamed with high levels of EV adoption, Hawaii is an ideal location to test and quantify the potential synergies and value of grid-connected EVs. This report provides a synopsis of the dynamic and rapidly changing landscape of EV integration in Hawaii, at the nexus between electricity and transportation. Focus is placed on the interaction of passenger EVs with the electricity grid, including EVs that rely entirely or partially on electricity for Figure 2.