eRoadMAP Adds Important New Capabilities

The adoption of electrified transportation hinges on much more than the number of electric vehicle (EV) sales in the coming years. Widespread EV adoption means easy and affordable charging, and all manner of EVs including light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles will likely need to be considered in local and regional plans for charging infrastructure.

As part of its broader EVs2Scale2030 initiative, EPRI continues to add important features to its eRoadMap, a first-of-its kind interactive power and energy map launched in late 2023 and designed to estimate local grid needs across the U.S. as transportation electrifies.

In December 2024, EPRI unveiled significant updates to this grid-planning tool as part of its ongoing research and development to deliver increasingly granular power information to local stakeholders and planners.

Working with the Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), RMI, and a host of fleet operators, EPRI’s online data tool identifies where, when, and how much EV charging load is likely to materialize on the U.S. electric grid.

More than a static map, eRoadMAP is a predictor that allows users to explore how quickly electric vehicle growth is expected in different regions of the country. Because it identifies the power and energy needs at roughly the individual feeder level where critical utility planning occurs, the tool is valuable to utility grid planners, state and local planners, departments of transportation, regulators, and customer advocates. 

eRoadMAP’s newest features include:

Power requirements (in addition to energy) at the feeder level for all vehicle segments;

Updated light-duty vehicle load estimates from RMI;

Managed and unmanaged charging scenarios, allowing users to explore the potential to alleviate transportation power demands (a driver of grid upgrade costs);

A five-hundred-mile filter, allowing users the option of removing long-range vehicles from the forecasted loads (that could potentially be served by other vehicle technologies);

Service territory boundaries representing the nation’s electric power companies to support customers in identifying the correct utility; and

Expansion of load hosting capacity maps to include utilities in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Maine.

Positioned as a starting point for local strategic planning and stakeholder engagement, eRoadMAP captures demand signals in the market with a high level of geographic precision that builds confidence in the timing and pace of EV adoption, enabling local and state planners, utilities, and regulators to prioritize investments.

Mapping Methodology

As most predictive tools are built, EPRI first gathered trip data for gas-powered vehicle trips in order to model the location and electricity demands of future electric fleets. EPRI then built in the policy goals and regulations for specific regions, fleet electrification and charging plans where known, and included a hundred percent electrification scenario to show how much energy and power would eventually be needed if all on-road transportation is electrified regardless of the timeline.

eRoadMAP Benefits

The interactive tool provides additional layers of data of interest to various user groups, including the air quality, Justice40 census tracts, transportation-disadvantaged counties’ location and number of existing EV charging stations, and utility load-hosting capacity and service territory boundaries.

At its core, it visualizes the year-over-year grid loads expected on the path to meeting 2030 electrification goals and regulations across all fifty states, as well as the future loads with a hundred percent electrification of on-road transportation. eRoadMAP provides a critical source of independent data and, as a result, has been cited in at least eight state legislative and regulatory proceedings to date.

Data Providers

A tool like eRoadMAP is only as effective and valuable as the data upon which it is built. In the way it approaches the majority of its research, EPRI structured a collaborative project drawing upon publicly available and proprietary data provided by leading transportation stakeholders. eRoadMAP collaborators include organizations such as Amazon, Daimler Truck, Volvo, Tesla, Enterprise Mobility, the World Resources Institute, and many others that can be found on EPRI’s website.

Research Context

EVs2Scale2030 is a three-year initiative that leverages EPRI’s industry and government relationships to work with utilities, fleet operators, vehicle manufacturers, and charging providers to support the rapid deployment of millions of electric vehicles – while minimizing the grid impacts and enabling critical benefits to the nation’s grid.

For more information and to use eRoadmap, visit: https://eroadmap.epri.com/