To aid utility success in a dramatically shifting landscape, E Source has launched EV4Sight, a consortium to continuously forecast the utility-specific impacts of electric transportation growth. Using a growing data hub and advanced data science, EV4Sight will also provide consortium members with ongoing insights into electric transportation charging patterns, analysis of factors that influence charging behavior, and impacts of load growth at the national, state, service-territory, or distribution-feeder level. EV4Sight will address both consumer vehicles as well as key categories of commercial and fleet vehicles.

“Utilities are facing considerable risk exposure if they either under- or over-build in anticipation of electric vehicle demand, and regulators and policy-makers want hard data to support investments. We also know electric load growth will be very uneven, with some regions, and even neighborhoods, having vastly different trajectories of adoption,” says Bill LeBlanc, E Source’s Chief Instigation Agent.

EV4Sight consortium members will have access to continuously updated dashboards powered by forecasting models rooted in advanced data science techniques. The data includes charging load shapes, EV owner data records, and proprietary market insights on every household and business in the U.S. E Source, through its partner Rolling Energy Resources, will enroll 100 consumer vehicles in each consortium member’s service territory to collect detailed real-time information on charging location and speed of charge, miles traveled, and state of battery charge. Members are encouraged to also add their own data, such as charging load shapes/AMI data, rate designs, and customer program participation to develop granular and accurate load forecasts. As the EV markets rapidly evolve, the projections will too.

“Today, we just don’t know what the real influences and levers are of EV adoption. Similarly, we aren’t aware of what affects charging habits the most,” explains Ted Schultz, president of E Source Data Science. “For consumer EV adoption, is it gas prices, number of public charging stations, model availability, EV range, or something hidden from us? For commercial vehicles, is rate design, range, managed charging, vehicle cost, or other factors that are the biggest influencers? That’s where data science will provide consortium members the tools you need in an ongoing basis to help manage the grid of the future.”

With dozens of utilities all pooling their data along with E Source’s proprietary data sets, advanced data science within EV4Sight will provide the ability to discern which utility programs, rate designs, policies, and activities work best with various target groups of customers under varying driving conditions.