Electric Farm Vehicles as Reliable Grid Assets

Demonstrate an on-farm mobile microgrid concept using bidirectional electric tractors to support loads during grid outages.

Gridtractor, Inc.

Recipient

Belmont, CA

Recipient Location

13th

Senate District

21st

Assembly District

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$1,664,881

Amount Spent

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Active

Project Status

Project Update

Since the project initiated in September 2022, the project team has completed site surveys of the two demonstration sites to inform the development of electric plans and identify EVSE locations. Additionally, in 2023 the project team focused on the development of bidirectional charging technology, completion of permitting and submission of the interconnect application for the first deployment site, conducting an engineering survey of the second deployment site, and development of the necessary control hardware and software solutions. One of the bidirectional DC EVSE chargers has been installed at PG&E's test facility in San Ramon, CA to allow for testing prior to field deployment. In February 2024, the project team held the second Technical Advisory Committee Meeting to solicit input on technical components of the project such as standards and use cases, as well as project performance metrics. Also in February 2024, an approved Interconnection Agreement was received for the first deployment site.

The Issue

Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) is nascent across sectors, particularly in the agricultural sector. Electric tractors are entering commercial scale production and do not have the onboard capabilities nor the related Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) and control systems for bidirectional charging to support critical on-farm and rural loads during PSPS events or other reliability and grid management use cases. Development of technology to support and add value to electrification of California’s tractor fleet will accelerate the transition to EFVs and enable the state to take advantage of more than 2,000 megawatts of existing electrical infrastructure for vehicle electrification at a time when other sectors are limited by the need to deploy new electrical services.

Project Innovation

This project will demonstrate an on-farm mobile microgrid concept, which involves bidirectional charging of battery-electric agricultural tractors to support loads during outages, participate in demand response, and load shift in response to time of use tariffs. The project will develop high power discharge capabilities for the electric tractor, integrate bidirectional chargers with on-farm electrical service points, and manage charging and loads in several grid integration use cases.

Project Goals

Develop and demonstrate bidirectional charging capabilities for agricultural tractors using DC and AC technologies.
Develop an app to optimize the use of on-farm electrical systems for irrigation and tractor bidirectional charging.
Test the integrated systems in PSPS events, demand response events, and in response to price signals form the grid.

Project Benefits

The project will enable electric farm vehicles to be used as mobile power sources that can be stored in advance of a planned shutoff or deployed at current battery levels during an unplanned outage to provide backup for critical on-farm loads. This will result in the ratepayer benefits of greater electricity reliability, lower costs, and reduced carbon emissions.

Lower Costs

Affordability

The project will lower overall charging costs through the development of high-capacity chargers with higher efficiency and energy management capabilities.

Greater Reliability

Reliability

The project will result in greater electricity reliability in agricultural applications through the use of electric tractors supporting critical loads during PSPS events and other grid disruptions.

Key Project Members

Project Member

David Meyers

CEO
Gridtractor, Inc.

Subrecipients

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Polaris Energy Services Inc.

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Rhombus Energy Solutions, Inc.

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Zimeno, Inc.

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Current Ways, Inc.

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Cal-West Rain, Inc.

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Huis Digital, LLC

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Match Partners

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Polaris Energy Services Inc.

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Rhombus Energy Solutions, Inc.

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Gridtractor, Inc.

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Zimeno, Inc.

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Current Ways, Inc.

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Huis Digital, LLC

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Contact the Team

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