Remote and Rural Resilience for EV Infrastructure

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Ghanem, Kinan and Ugwuanyi, Stephen (2024) Remote and Rural Resilience for EV Infrastructure. Case study. University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. (https://pndc.co.uk/case-studies/remote-and-rural-r...)

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Abstract

Reliable and secure communication technology is one of the key requirements to ensure the flow of EV charging services for reasons like digital transition in pursuit of net zero targets. A wide range of communications technologies can be used to enable the connectivity needed to monitor the EV charging stations. In the hard-to-reach areas, the suitability of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) technologies such as NB-IoT, LoRa and RPMA, and BGAN satellite communication along with G4/G5 and private LTE vary based on their availability, the main end applications and the associated costs. PNDC has been approached by HITRANS to look at the key challenges and solutions that face the availability of communication technologies and the impact of switching off the 3G network in the. In this report, PNDC has identified the key challenges of EV infrastructure in remote and rural areas along with the appropriate solutions and the cost associated of each recommended option. This project has explored the key technologies that can be deployed in hard to hard-to-reach remote and rural areas, taking into considerations their main advantages, disadvantages and estimated costs for EV charging infrastructure. The report identifies potential future technologies that could be used or easily Moray, Western and Northern Scottish Isles including Shetland and Orkney deployed to meet the communications and cyber security requirements for EV charging in the Scottish Isles. The report also focuses on the communication requirements for the EV charging infrastructure and covers the available communication technology options that are most suited for this application – highlighting the advantages and limitations of each option. The report includes Learning from previous relevant innovation projects and previous experience we have built over the previous years and it answers the following questions: • What are the recommended communication technology options to be used in connecting the EV charging stations in the hard-to-reach areas? • What are the key requirements to enable the functionality of the EV charging by reliable and secure communications? • What is the impact of switching off the 3G network in remote and rural areas of Scotland? • What are the short/long terms communication solutions to be considered in the EV charging? During this project, it has been found that the right connectivity for EV infrastructure in the highland namely some areas in Moray, Western and Northern Scottish isles including Shetland and Orkney might be limited and in some spots, the only immediate option is to go through the expensive satellite communication technology. To ensure the best signal availability from the mobile operator, multinetwork (roaming) 4G SIMs can be the option to maximise connectivity in rural and hard-to-reach areas (assuming that at least one mobile provider can have coverage). It has been also found that some legacy charging stations which use 3G networks for their connectivity might be affected by the 3G shutdown and they require 3G-to-4G modem upgrades. Some manufacturers can easily upgrade the mobile connectivity module for some type of charging points, whereas, some other models may not be upgradable. As the age of the charging station along with its model and associated communication modem and its functionality will identify whether it requires replacement or upgrade.

ORCID iDs

Ghanem, Kinan and Ugwuanyi, Stephen ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7683-5213;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)