Oakland, California’s school district is putting 74 shiny new electric-powered school buses into service. But these buses will be doing more than just shuttling kids back and forth to school.
They’ll be playing a role in helping Oakland keep its grid humming.
The school district along with a company called Zum and local utility PG&E are taking advantage of technology called V2G, which stands for Vehicle to Grid.
V2G is poised to be a big deal as Oakland’s school bus fleet is transitions to 100% EV. V2G will make it easier for PG&E to take full advantage of its renewable energy sources.
PG&E’s 2022 Power Mix
Oakland’s buses typically recharge after their morning run when solar production is at its peak. Then, following the afternoon run, the buses can start feeding energy back into the grid when usage tends to peak, meaning less reliance on fossil fuels in the evening and at night.
After that, the buses re-charge overnight when power usage is at its lowest point. The next day the entire cycle starts again.
You just might see a similar system coming to your area if you’re watching this here in the U.S.
The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program is making $5 billion available to school districts to switch to EV buses. Some states like California have additional incentives available.
This isn’t just some pie-in-the-sky pilot program. Zum alone has a goal of electrifying 10,000 bidirectional school buses nationwide.
Zum isn’t the only one looking at how EVs can help keep the power flowing into homes. Everyday EVs like Ford’s F- 150 Lightning, Chevy’s Silverado EV and Kia’s EV6, to name just a few, are already available with variations of a similiar concept.
In the case of the Ford and Chevy, they have what’s known as V2H, or vehicle-to-home, meaning they can be tied into a home’s circuit breaker box to power the entire home as needed, while the Kia can put out enough power to serve as a backup power supply for things like powering the fridge, or a window A/C unit and lights, or even charging another EV.
You’re likely to see EV-to-grid and EV-to-home systems become more common in the coming years. That’s because U.S. utilities are being motivated to look for ways to transition away from fossil fuels and find affordable ways to store the excess energy generated by wind and solar.
These future EV microgrids also mean many of our homes will be less vulnerable to power outages since many of us will have backup power sitting in our garages and driveways.
If enough residential and public microgrids like the one in Oakland come online, it may also will mean more power stability for folks that don’t have EVs, since V2Gs may help avoid blackouts or power interruptions. And, our kids will no longer need to put up the smoke coming from those dirty diesel buses.
It’s just another example of how EVs will help us eventually reach a zero-emission future.
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