Open Access

REVIEW

A Critical State-of-the-Art Review of Collaborative Operation Rules for Vehicle-Charging Station-Grid Considering Grid Hosting Capacity

Liming Sun, Tao Yu^*
School of Electric Power Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
* Corresponding Author: Tao Yu. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Artificial Intelligence in Energy Systems: Challenges, Opportunities, and Emerging Applications)

Energy Engineering https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2026.080412

Received 09 February 2026; Accepted 12 March 2026; Published online 09 April 2026

Abstract

The large-scale deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure drives transportation electrification and energy structure transformation, but the spatiotemporal randomness and high power demand of EV charging loads challenges the safe and efficient operation of distribution networks. Grid hosting capacity (HC), the maximum additional charging load acceptable for the grid while ensuring reliable, high-quality power supply, is a critical constraint for the coordinated development of EVs, charging stations and the grid. This paper presents a systematic critical review of collaborative operation rules for the vehicle-charging station-grid (VCSG) system with grid HC as the core constraint, covering HC assessment frameworks, capacity-constrained EV charging station planning, VCSG operation optimization, and key technologies for coordinated planning and operation under distribution-transportation integration. It synthesizes research progress in HC assessment, capacity-centric planning and real-time operational coordination, and identifies technical limitations of existing studies. Key findings confirm that multi-dimensional, multi-timescale HC assessment frameworks, source-grid-load-storage optimization, and multi-objective operation optimization are essential for grid to accommodate EV loads. We conclude that VCSG deep coupling forms a complex multi-flow structure, with flexibility modeling/quantification as the core for collaborative optimization. This work breaks the single-perspective limitations of existing reviews by constructing a complete HC-constrained VCSG technical system and clarifying multi-flow coupling mechanisms. Beyond prior research, it proposes targeted future directions including multi-energy coupling, lifecycle sustainability analysis, AI-based adaptive control, user-centric multi-stakeholder collaboration and extreme scenario resilience enhancement, providing a research paradigm for energy-transportation integration and technical support for sustainable VCSG development.

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Keywords

Vehicle-charging station-grid; hosting capacity assessment; charging station planning; operation optimization; operation and planning coordination

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