Advanced Transit Bus VGI Project
Bringing together national leaders in advanced transit and energy systems, this project targets critical real-world needs to commercialize and scale electric transit fleets with robust grid-serving energy services.
Prospect Silicon Valley
Recipient
San Jose, CA
Recipient Location
10th
Senate District
25th
Assembly District
$1,669,045
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
The project developed an Energy Management Platform (EMP) and telemetry systems to manage the E-bus charging sessions and fleet operations at VTA. Bus state of charge range, efficiency, and odometer readings were successfully tested for full integration at VTA. Demonstrations of the EMP in real-world scenarios, using up to 5 E-buses, were conducted through July-October 2020. The EMP reduced the peak power of E-bus fleet charging by up to 65% while ensuring each bus has sufficient charge to complete all of its assigned routes. The project is complete and the final report is published.
View Final ReportThe Issue
California has established ambitious goals for zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) and renewable energy, including a 100% conversion of transit fleets to ZEVs by 2040 and 50% renewables by 2030. Currently, transit buses are significantly more expensive than conventional buses, while having limited resources for conversion planning and integration with critical commercial operations. In addition, renewable energy goals require more responsive charging controls to address grid variability.
Project Innovation
Led by Prospect Silicon Valley, the project leverages VTA's plans to purchase up to 15 all-electric buses towards electrification of its near 500-bus fleet in order to build on the strategies, technologies and partnerships from numerous existing VGI efforts. The Project Team successfully integrated the Energy Management Platform (EMP) with a telematics system installed on the buses, and fleet management software, so that VTA's bus operations team can use it to optimize the charging schedule and minimize the cost of charging, creating savings in charging costs for the agency.
Project Benefits
The project's goals were to implement a world-class electric transit fleet to significantly advance California's energy goals. The project applied integrated systems to reduce charging costs through demand management using unidirectional charging control. These features were integrated with commercial fleet management tools for the first fully integrated energy management in a heavy-duty fleet.
Affordability
The project lowered costs for VTA, especially for reduced demand charges. According to NREL's analysis report of the pilot in February 2020, smart charging can reduce maximum site power consumption by 31-65% compared to immediate charging. Smart charging can reduce the number of chargers needed without impacts to service. For example, one 60kW charger may be used for 2.5 buses or one 120kW charger may be used for 3.8 buses.
Environmental Sustainability
The project had several environmental benefits, including reduced CO2 emissions and demonstrating energy resiliency, aligning with the mandate that public transit fleets in California should be zero-emissions by 2040. Additionally, as reported by NREL, adding PV at VTA can increase renewable incentives from California programs (e.g. Low Carbon Fuel Standard) and the flexibility that smart charging provides mitigates much of the need to install batteries.
Key Project Members
Doug Davenport
Subrecipients
Energy Solutions International
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
CALSTART, INC.
California EV Alliance
Kisensum
U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Proterra Inc.
NOVA Workforce Investment Board
Denise Penrose Consulting
Match Partners
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
Proterra Inc.
