Fast Charging in the Urban Environment - Infrastructure Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract: Charging of electric vehicles, in particular fast charging, in cities is major challenge for the existing AC infrastructure. Even charging multiple vehicles overnight quickly overloads the low-voltage distribution grid. In addition, as the automotive industry launches the proposition that fast charging up to 350 kW is a customer requirement, offering fast-charging stations could become a business opportunity. In this presentation, solid state solutions are presented that build on existing AC infrastructure to accommodate high-power charging.

Bio: Rik W. De Doncker (M'87‑SM'99‑F'01) received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the KULeuven, Belgium. In 1987, he was appointed Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he lectured and conducted research on high-performance induction motor drives and soft-switching dc-to-dc converters. In 1988, he was a General Electric Company (GE) Fellow at the microelectronic center, IMEC, Leuven, Belgium. He joined the GE Corporate Research and Development Center, Schenectady, NY, in the same year. He led research on drives and high-power soft-switching converters, ranging from 100 kW to 4 MW for aerospace, industrial and traction applications. In November 1994, he joined Silicon Power Corporation (formerly GE-SPCO) as Vice President Technology, developing world’s first medium-voltage static transfer switch. Since Oct. 1996, he is professor at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, where he leads the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA). In Oct. 2006 he was appointed director of the E.ON Energy Research Center at RWTH Aachen University, where he also founded the Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems. He is director of the RWTH CAMPUS Cluster Sustainable Energy and leads the BMBF Flexible Electrical Networks (FEN) Research CAMPUS.

He has published over 400 technical papers and is holder of more than 40 patents, with several pending. 1997 he founded the German IEEE IAS-PELS Joint Chapter. He is an IEEE Fellow and was 2005-2006 President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS). 2007-2013, Dr. De Doncker was member of the Board of the German engineering Society VDE-ETG. He is ex-officio member of the EPE Executive Council. Dr. De Doncker is recipient of the IAS Outstanding Achievements Award and the IEEE Power Engineering Nari Hingorani Custom Power Award (2008). In 2009, he led a VDE/ETG Task Force on Electric Vehicles. In 2010, he became member of the German National Platform for Electromobility. He is the recipient of the 2013 Newell Power Electronics IEEE Technical Field Award, the highest distinction in this field within IEEE, and the 2014 IEEE PELS Harry A. Owen Outstanding Service Award. 2015 he was awarded Fellow status at RWTH University. In 2016 he became member of the German Academy of Science and Technology (ACATECH). 2017 he became Member of the International Advisory Board of French automotive research institute VEDECOM.