Implementation of priority-based scheduling for electric vehicles through local distributed control

Distributed load management systems can become a crucial enabler for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). The present paper experimentally demonstrates a priority-based scheduling algorithm that enables all chargers of an EV parking lot to coordinate their charging processes in a distributed manner. The distributed approach reduces control delays and maintains consistent management complexity, regardless of the number of chargers. A system is developed in which each electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) makes local decisions individually, sharing only their priorities with the other EVSEs of the cluster. The approach controls the total cluster consumption to a connection capacity while prioritizing the charging of EVs with the highest urgency. The scheduling algorithm is implemented in a real-life charging cluster, and its working principle is demonstrated through field tests. The system successfully shows the scheduling of two EVs to charge on a shared connection of 9 kW. The common capacity of the cluster showed a utilization ratio of 0.86 without critically overloading the grid connection.