The PEV security challenges to the smart grid: Analysis of threats and mitigation strategies

Amid growing concern over both the skyrocketing price of fossil fuels and the considerable harm to the environment that is now universally attributed to their use, the gas-powered vehicle is increasingly being viewed as an undesirable means of modern transportation, and the Plug-In Electric Vehicle (PEV) is now being actively developed as its potential replacement. The PEV is powered entirely by electricity, which it acquires by plugging into available electric charging facilities. Concurrently, the electrical grid as we know it is being transformed into a smart grid, which couples physical electrical power generation, transmission, distribution and delivery with an advanced communication network infrastructure that enables provision of several new types of services associated with electrical power management and delivery. The new Smart Grid is seen as an ideal environment for the rapid adoption of the PEV as the primary means of transportation, but such a development poses several threats to the security of the Smart Grid, which could lead to local facilities failure, grid overload, grid instability, and exhaustion of national reserve electrical supply. In this paper we analyze these PEV-induced threats and survey and propose effective mitigation strategies which could be employed to nullify their effectiveness in disrupting the services offered by the Smart Grid.