Caltech Adds EV Charging to Its Long List of Innovations

California Institute of Technology Acts to Decarbonize the Transportation Sector

With its reputation as one of the most advanced institutes in the world, there’s little surprise that Caltech is a pioneer of sustainability.

“Sustainability is important at Caltech,” says John Onderdonk, Chief Sustainability Officer. “Caltech has a reputation for being a leader in science technology. We’re trying to be equally world-class in building, operating, and maintaining our physical campus.”

Caltech’s environmental initiatives focus on responsible management of energy, water, materials, and transportation. Installing PowerFlex’s intelligent electric vehicle (EV) charging stations is one way Caltech is acting to reduce transportation-related carbon emissions.

Partnering With PowerFlex

For Caltech, PowerFlex’s innovative EV charging technology was a perfect fit. Our design supports Caltech’s mission in two ways:

• First, the PowerFlex network provides an on-cam- pus option for clean transportation. Caltech staff, students, and visitors have access to 6 Level 3 (DC Fast) charging stations and more than 150 Level 2 charging stations.
• Second, PowerFlex helps advance Caltech’s research on smart EV charging — our adaptive charging algorithm prioritizes networked EVs in real-time. This optimization protects the grid from overloading and lets existing electrical infrastructure power more vehicles than a traditional network.

Optimizing Charging With Adaptive Load Management

Unique to PowerFlex, our Adaptive Load Management (ALM) software solves one of the biggest challenges organizations face — deploying large-scale EV charging without requiring oversized electrical systems. In a typical EV charging model, every station operates at full power, which can lead to high infrastructure costs as well as steep peak demand charges levied by utilities. PowerFlex’s ALM approaches EV charging differently. Our patented algorithm delivers reliable EV charging through- out a network by controlling stations individually, in real-time, based on charging demand, building load, onsite generation, and other variables. This makes for a more balanced energy draw across the network, eliminating demand spikes.

By optimizing the total power available, ALM can power 6 times the number of EV charging ports as a traditional system while enabling businesses to shave as much as 60% off the cost of electrical system upgrades and peak demand charges.