This Is How Electric Vehicles Win, One School Bus At A Time

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Electric vehicles can provide fleet owners with significant bottom line advantages compared to gas or diesel. Aside from savings on fuel and maintenance, owners can squeeze even more value from their fleets by sharing the energy stored in their EV batteries. The question is exactly how much value is to be gained, and a new $10.9 million vehicle-to-grid program for electric school buses is going to provide the answers.

Electric Vehicles And The Value Of V2G Technology

The firm behind the new program is the Massachusetts company Highland Electric Fleets, which has carved out a niche for itself in the area of electrification-as-a-service for school buses. Highland was tapped by the US Department of Energy last week to run the new “Scaling Vehicle-to-Grid Integration Nationally” program, funded by a $10.9 million cost-sharing award from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The aim is to provide fleet managers and utilities with best case scenarios for deploying electric vehicles as rolling energy storage units that help reduce the demand on power plants during the day. Energy planners anticipate that V2G programs can help reduce if not eliminate the need to build expensive new gas “peaker” plants to meet higher demand for electricity during daytime hours, thereby saving costs for all ratepayers (see more V2G background here).

Electric school buses are attractive targets for V2G systems partly because, unlike many other fleet vehicles, they sit idle for long periods during the day. Ideally they would recharge at night when demand is lower. Though, the US Department of Transportation points out that the charging situation is more complicated than it may seem.

Typically, electric school buses are outfitted with smaller, less costly battery packs that accommodate fast charging, precisely because their routes are relatively short and they can recharge during the day. Generally speaking, that is exactly the opposite pattern that energy planners are aiming for with V2G technology. The whole point is to reduce daytime demand, not add to it.

I’m reaching out to Highland to see what kinds of charging scenarios they have in mind. It’s possible that Highland anticipates seasonal applications for a V2G schedule, such as the one they implemented for the Beverly school district in Massachusetts.

If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread. One thing to consider is that Level 3 fast-charging stations are expensive and require new electrical infrastructure. Electric buses with larger battery packs would cost more up front, but they could use less costly Level 2 charging stations to charge overnight while also taking advantage of lower off-peak electricity rates.

Another element to consider is the plummeting cost of EV batteries, and consequently a drop in the upfront cost for school buses and other electric vehicles.

Nailing Down The Value Of V2G

Either way, there is a significant knowledge gap to resolve in the V2G field. Highland points out that “V2G-enabled vehicles can enhance grid flexibility and resilience, reduce expensive distribution system upgrades, decrease peaker plant emissions, and increase renewable energy integration,” but measuring those benefits in dollars and cents has been a challenge.

Highland aims to fill the gap by working with 12 different utilities to establish 14 V2G electric school bus pilot projects around the country that coordinate utility data with the operation of the vehicles. Collectively, the 14 projects are expected to result in a V2G “best practices” implementation toolkit for utilities and fleet managers. More to the point, data from the projects will yield a solid, standardized methodology for assessing the value of V2G systems.

“By integrating real-time data from utilities and vehicle operators, SVIN [the Scaling Vehicle-to-Grid Integration Nationally program] aims to help grid operators optimize program design to better serve their customers,” Highland explains.

Also involved in the project is Highland’s technical partner, Dynamic Organics, as well as the utility carbon consulting firm Tierra Resource Consulting, a California-based business network called The Climate Center, Colorado State University, and the nonprofit organization Zero Net Energy Alliance, which focuses on electric vehicles including school buses.

Many Options For Electric Vehicles And V2G

Highland has surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar before, most recently in connection with bus fleet electrification for the Red Lake School District #38 in Minnesota. Highland provided the district with soup-to-nuts electric bus procurement and ongoing services, making it “the first public school district with an indigenous population to utilize funding from the EPA Clean School Bus Program,” as reported by CleanTechnica’s Carolyn Fortuna on October 9. The new fleet fits the midday charging model described by the Department of Transportation.

Meanwhile, electric vehicles of all sorts are being recruited for grid services and for powering home systems in case of power outages, with or without the added benefit of rooftop solar panels and home energy storage systems.

The latest automaker to jump into the field is Nissan. On October 10, the company announced plans to offer bi-directional charging systems on some of its electric vehicles in the UK and Europe, beginning in 2026.

The decision follows an extensive test period of 10 years covering about 40 different projects.

In a press statement, Hugues Desmarchelier, Nissan VP of global electrification ecosystem & EV programs, summed up why Nissan is confident that conventional cars are no match for electric vehicles equipped with bi-directional charging.

“This technology we will bring to customers is a potential game-changer for how we think of EVs. Not just as a means of getting from A to B, but as a mobile energy storage unit that can save people money and support the transition from fossil fuels, bringing us closer to a carbon-free future,” Desmarhelier said.

For another approach to V2G systems, keep an eye on the US Army, which is looking into the idea of assembling electric vehicles, hybrids, and/or conventional vehicles into instant microgrids. In a 2021 recap of its efforts, the Army indicated that the focus was on improving fuel efficiency and flexibility as applied to diesel-fueled combat vehicles and generators. However, the Army team was already anticipating the benefits of electric vehicles.

“Future vehicle hybridization has the added benefits of silent mobility and extended silent watch.  The Army could decrease vehicles’ audible energy by 80% and thermal energy by 90% with full electrification. Also, the fast-forming vehicle microgrid is much quicker to set up and tear down than a conventional generator system unloaded from a trailer,” explained the branch chief of the Powertrain Electrification Team, Dean McGrew.

While the Army is thinking about that, more school districts are going electric for bottom-line savings, an end to students breathing in diesel fumes, and the beginning of opportunities to help improve grid reliability for the whole community.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is here to assist. The deadline to submit applications for a piece of the $965 million Clean School Bus Grant Program is January 9, 2025. Some states have also set aside new funding for electric school buses. If your school district has plans in the works to electrify their fleet, share the news in the comment thread.

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Photo (cropped): Electric school buses and other electric vehicles with vehicle-to-grid capability can benefit the whole community by sharing the kilowatts stored up in their batteries (courtesy of Highland Electric Fleets).