Power quality challenges and resilient mitigation strategies for high-penetration electric vehicle integration: A comprehensive grid-centric review

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive and critical review of power quality issues (PQIs) arising from the integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into modern power grids, particularly under high penetration scenarios. As EV adoption accelerates globally—driven by decarbonization goals, government policies, and advances in battery and charging technologies—its impact on grid infrastructure has become a significant concern. The study systematically examines the power disturbances introduced by EV charging systems, differentiating between unidirectional grid-to-vehicle and bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) operations. Key PQIs such as harmonic distortion, voltage sags and swells, reactive power imbalance, frequency deviations and voltage unbalance are investigated for different charging levels (Level 1, Level 2, direct current fast charging), charger topologies and battery states of charge. We pay special attention to the compounding effects of high EV penetration, where stochastic and simultaneous charging behaviors worsen grid instability, transformer overloading, and communication interference. The review discusses conventional mitigation approaches such as passive and active harmonic filters, distribution static compensators, grid-supportive inverter topologies and other emerging solutions including smart charging algorithms, machine-learning-based predictive control, adaptive reactive power compensation and integration of renewable energy sources. The importance of bidirectional charging in providing ancillary services such as frequency control and peak shaving is highlighted, and new PQIs originating from dynamic switching of modes, supraharmonic generation and failures in communications in V2G are identified. A gap analysis identifies the need for dynamic grid models, secure communications protocols (ISO 15118, IEEE 2030.5) and technoeconomic assessment of the grid for large-scale implementation of EVs. The novelty of this review is that it adopts an integrated approach by considering all three aspects to evaluate the issues and opportunities associated with EV integration from a system-wide perspective. The present study offers important insights by exploring trends in current research, identifying gaps, and suggesting possible solutions.