ACN-Sim: An Open-Source Simulator for Data-Driven Electric Vehicle Charging Research

Abstract

Smart electric vehicle charging has recently garnered significant attention in the research community due to need to charge vast numbers of electric vehicles (EVs) economically, as well as the potential of providing grid services using EVs. However, research into practical online charging algorithms has been hampered by the lack of a widely available, realistic simulation environment in which to evaluate algorithms and test assumptions. To meet this need, we have developed ACN-Sim, a data-driven, open-source simulator based on our experience building and operating real-world charging systems. ACN-Sim provides a modular, extensible architecture which models the complexity of real charging systems, including battery charging behavior and unbalanced three-phase infrastructure. In addition, ACN-Sim integrates with a broader ecosystem of research tools for EV charging, including ACN-Data, an open dataset of EV charging sessions to provide realistic simulation scenarios, and ACN-Live, a framework for field-testing charging algorithms.