Enmax Power reveals findings from new study on electric vehicles

With the number of electric vehicles on city streets expected to grow significantly in the coming years, Calgary-based Enmax Power says it's keen to tap into the burgeoning market and is investigating ways to prepare for the anticipated surge in demand.

The company said Monday that it expects the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in the city to jump to 200,000 by 2035, up from around 3,000. To get ready, the company has been been studying owners' behaviour, collaborating with more than 160 electric vehicle (EV) owners in Calgary.

One of things that company says it's found is many customers prefer to plug in their vehicles after work, leaving their vehicles plugged in all night despite the fact that they need a very short period of time to charge, according to Jana Mosley, president of Enmax Power.

But the study found many EV owners are willing to charge their vehicles at off-peak times — provided they're rewarded with financial incentives.

"Seventy per cent of the people in our pilot did shift their charging behaviour to charging in the evening," Mosley said.

Participants in the pilot who weren't offered any incentives but were made aware of the perks associated with off-peak charging times weren't as motivated and eventually chose to do what was convenient.

While vehicles don't use more power after their batteries have been adequately charged, they tend to have an impact on the electrical grid.

"If I can get you to not plug in at six o'clock, but say have your charging turn on at 10 p.m. when most people are shutting off lights and going to bed, then I don't have to have the same type of capacity on the electrical grid at six o'clock to meet all of that high demand," Mosley said.

Juval Bothe, an EV owner from Calgary, said he finds it convenient to simply plug in his Nissan Leaf after work and forget about it until it's time to head to work the next day. However, Bothe, an Enmax engineer, said he is willing to change his charging habits — especially if he's offered financial incentives to do so.

"I think, in general, providing education to people is… really helpful," said Bothe, adding such initiatives help people understand how their charging preferences affect the electrical grid as a whole.

Angie Dean, president of the Tesla Owners Club of Alberta, has bought two electric vehicles since 2016. She made the switch to EVs in a bid to reduce her carbon footprint and even installed solar panels at home.

She was a participant in the Enmax pilot and was told why it's beneficial to charge her vehicle at off-peak times. Despite not being offered any incentives to modify her charging habits, Dean was motivated to do so.

"I think the part that I liked the most about it [the pilot] was just the fact that they were doing it, you know, that they are thinking about this before it becomes a problem."

The pilot study included researchers from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. Enmax has been studying customers' vehicle charging preferences since 2019 through a series of projects known as "Charge Up."