A school bus with integrated vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology has been developed by San Diego-based green energy technology company Nuvve and bus maker Blue Bird.

Blue Bird’s Vision Type Cand All American Type D electric school buses have been enabled with Nuvve’s V2G technology.

Both Blue Bird bus types are now equipped with a standard CCS connector capable of V2G charging and discharging of the 155kWh batteries that allow up to nearly 200km of range on a single charge.

With Nuvve’s latest V2G 60kW DC CCS charging station, the buses can be fully charged in approximately three hours. This complies with V2G interconnection regulations and meets UL-1741-SA certification requirements mandated for California V2G installations.

Blue Bird delivered its 100th electric school bus in April this year. The combination of Blue Bird’s electric school buses and Nuvve’s V2G Give platform can be compelling for grid services such as frequency regulation and demand response, while also providing behind-the-meter savings to the user.

Nuvve’s technology enables electric buses, which are parked most hours of the day, to store energy while connected. This storage essentially turns electric buses into mobile battery resources that can then be aggregated together to act as virtual power plants (VPPs). At times of extreme grid stress, such as during a heat wave, electric buses can be deployed to provide the grid with additional energy capacity to help prevent brownouts, blackouts or even failure.

Nuvve also plans to enable electric buses with emergency back-up power functionality in the future to mitigate the impacts of lost power during wildfires or other natural disasters.

“We now have standard products, both from charging station OEMs and electric bus manufacturers who are reputable market leaders, that will allow us to scale and ramp up V2G installations across the nation,” said Gregory Poilasne, chairman and CEO of Nuvve. “Electric school buses that are V2G-enabled have the potential to play a critical role to help stabilise the electric grid. We are proud to partner with Blue Bird to provide cleaner transportation for children and renewable energy storage that will help the environment and our communities.”

It is becoming widely known that electric buses maintain a much cleaner environment for kids to travel to school. Combined with Nuvve’s V2G technology, electric bus owners can realise an economic benefit resulting in a lower total cost of ownership since electric buses can offset operating costs when parked by earning grid service revenues. Additionally, during summer months and the current distance-learning scenarios caused by the pandemic, the V2G platform can help balance electric bus batteries and ensure that low degradation occurs in idle months, thereby increasing the lifespan of the batteries.

“We believe bringing new cutting-edge technology to the school transportation market is essential so that children can travel in the cleanest, quietest, and safest vehicles on the road,” said Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird. “V2G has the ability to make our electric school buses more affordable to districts and, combined with Nuvve’s experience with utility and grid services, our collaboration will be key to developing the future of clean transportation.”

The joint offer from Nuvve and Blue Bird is available through Blue Bird’s national dealer network, which can provide assistance to districts through the entire electric bus implementation process, including financing of the buses chargers, installation support, fleet management services and V2G services.

Nuvve is a San Diego-based green energy technology company whose mission is to lower the cost of electric vehicle ownership while supporting the integration of renewable energy sources, including solar and wind. Its proprietary V2G technology – Grid Integrated Vehicle (Give) platform – is refuelling electric vehicle fleets through bidirectional charging. Since its founding in 2010, Nuvve has been responsible for V2G projects on five continents and is deploying commercial services worldwide.

Blue Bird is an independent designer and manufacturer of school buses, with more than 550,000 buses sold since its formation in 1927 and approximately 180,000 buses in operation today. It manufactures school buses at two facilities in Fort Valley, Georgia. Its Micro Bird joint venture operates a manufacturing facility in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. Service and after-market parts are distributed from Blue Bird’s parts distribution centre in Delaware, Ohio.