“V2B Oakland”

Center for Transportation and the Environment, Inc.

Recipient

Atlanta, GA

Recipient Location

beenhere

$39,095

Amount Spent

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Active

Project Status

Project Update

Project efforts are focused on developing the requirements of the battery electric bus vehicle-to-building (V2B) system in preparation for system design, hardware procurement, software development, bus modification, and testing by the end of 2023. The fuel cell electric bus V2B system will be developed and tested 2024.

The Issue

Resilience of electrical infrastructure is a significant and growing problem in California, as a changing climate imposes more extreme weather and increases the incidence of devastating natural disasters, including wildfires. These events can disrupt the electrical grid with simultaneous energy demand that strains capacity or create outages from physical destruction of infrastructure. Utilizing electric vehicles with significant energy storage as mobile generators can reduce site reliance on grid transmission in the event of these emergencies. Communities that are susceptible to power outages can leverage a growing fleet of electric vehicles, including both battery and fuel cell electric vehicles, to supply energy to critical needs facilities and resources. This project implements a “vehicle-to-building” (V2B) solution that not only addresses the state’s resilience objectives, but also increases the value proposition of electric vehicle ownership and operation, specifically for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Project Innovation

This project partners with electric transit bus manufacturer, New Flyer, to advance and demonstrate bus exportable power systems, which can discharge energy stored on battery and fuel cell electric buses to buildings or critical loads. New Flyer intends to develop this technology into a commercial product for its electric bus platforms. The project will conduct a first-of-its-kind demonstration using electric transit buses to support critical HVAC and air filtration loads at a community facility in West Oakland and critical operation and service loads at an AC Transit bus yard. The project will work with the community-based organization West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project to incorporate the capabilities of the bus exportable power system into their community resilience planning, using it to help mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, wildfire smoke, and extreme heat.

Project Goals

Demonstrate bidirectional capability with both a battery electric and fuel cell electric transit bus.
Export power from electric transit bus to support critical community building loads during an emergency.

Project Benefits

This project will increase the resilience of the AC Transit bus system and produce significant positive community health impacts by replacing fossil fuel backup power solutions with a zero-emission alternative. Deployment of this technology strengthens the disaster response capabilities of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in Alameda County, and particularly the West Oakland community, by providing a clean and mobile backup power solution to emergency centers. This solution will ensure AC Transit’s zero-emission buses can continue to operate in a widespread power outage event while providing West Oakland residents with a place of shelter during extreme heat or other emergencies.

Environmental & Public Health

Environmental Sustainability

This technology avoids fossil fuel use from backup generators. By utilizing the zero-emission buses to support the backup power needs at the facility, ratepayers avoid consumption of about 4.6 diesel gallons per hour. Avoiding the estimated diesel consumption leads to avoidance of 99.9 lb-CO2 per hour, 0.53 lb-CO per hour, 2.5 lb-NOx per hour, and 0.18 lb-PM per hour.

Energy Security

Energy Security

This technology increases site resilience to electric outages. Each battery electric bus vehicle-to-building (V2B) system is expected to provide up to 125 kW of power and 350 kWh of energy to the site. Each fuel cell electric bus V2B system is expected to provide up to 85 kW and 650 kWh of energy to the site.

Key Project Members

Project Member

Patrick Callahan

Engineering Consultant
Center for Transportation and the Environment
Project Member

Jason Hanlin

Director of Technology Research
Center for Transportation and the Environment
Project Member

Gregor Hintler

Managing Director
The Mobility House, LLC
Project Member

Sarah Woogen

Head of USA Operations and Analytics
The Mobility House, LLC
Project Member

John Westerman

Director, Project Development and Engineering
Schneider Electric USA, Inc.
Project Member

John Ahrens

Senior Staff Design Engineer
Schneider Electric USA, Inc.
Project Member

Brydon Owen

Director of Electrical Engineering
New Flyer of America Inc.
Project Member

Michael McDonald

Operations Manager, Vehicle Innovation Center
New Flyer of America Inc.
Project Member

Brian Beveridge

Co-Executive Director
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
Project Member

Joe Callaway

Director of Capital Projects
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
Project Member

Cecil Blandon

Director Of Maintenance
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District

Subrecipients

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Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District

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Rhombus Energy Solutions, Inc.

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Schneider Electric USA, Inc.

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New Flyer of America Inc.

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The Mobility House, LLC

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West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project

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Match Partners

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Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District

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West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project

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