The harmonic and supraharmonic emission of battery electric vehicles in the Netherlands

This paper presents some of the Power Quality effects caused by common-used battery electric vehicles in The Netherlands. A set-up to control the charging current and to measure the voltage and current waveforms is developed in order to obtain a representative insight in possible disturbances caused by electric vehicle charging. Of main interest were both harmonic- (up to 2 kHz) and supraharmonic (2 kHz to 150 kHz) disturbances. Especially supraharmonics were of interest, because emission in this range is only partly standardized and battery electric vehicles are a known source of supraharmonic disturbances, leading to unwanted effects. The amount of reactive power is also taken into account. The most important conclusion is that, except for one, all tested battery electric vehicles are a source of harmonic and supraharmonic currents and therefore influence the power quality. It is observed that the harmonic behaviour of the chargers depends on whether nominal- or reduced charging currents are used. The findings of this research are use-full for the assessment of the impact electric vehicles have on the low-voltage grid.