California-based Nuvve Holding has announced V2G electric vehicle charging hubs along with a transport-as-a-service (TaaS) offering.

The model could reduce electric fleet costs, improve grid resiliency, better integrate renewable energy sources and speed-up the USA’s transition to a decarbonised transportation sector.

The proprietary vehicle-to-grid (V2G) platform is aimed at commercial electric vehicle (EV) fleets and could enhance grid resiliency. This V2G hub model centralises renewable energy generation, providing bidirectional EV charging stations and a suite of EV services with financing options to purchase EVs.

This combination of centralised charging infrastructure and end-to-end fleet support services makes it easier for light-, medium- and heavy-duty fleets to electrify by reducing large upfront capital costs, while the V2G technology reduces the cost of fleet ownership by enabling fleet vehicle batteries to store and sell energy, including from renewable sources, back into the grid.

The hubs and TaaS offering will initially focus on fleets offering last-kilometre delivery, ride hailing and ride sharing, municipal services, and student transportation. 

The first application is expected to serve electric school buses based on existing commercial deployments and agreements between Nuvve and its V2G ecosystem partners to help achieve the objectives of the government’s infrastructure plan, including its commitment to electrifying America’s diesel school buses.

The TaaS offering will allow organisations to electrify their transportation by paying a monthly fee that covers leasing EVs, charging infrastructure, energy costs, vehicle storage and vehicle maintenance.

The V2G hubs also resolve limitations with utilities related to multiple interconnections to the electric grid by small energy storage systems, such as V2G EVs. By creating a set of hubs within a geographic area with large connections to the grid – of the order of 2 to 50MW – Nuvve aims to enable access to energy for its customers while delivering services to energy markets in a more efficient manner thanks to its virtual power plant and grid experience.

“Electrifying fleets is critical to achieving our nation’s net-zero energy goals as the sector accounts for twenty per cent of all transportation GHG emissions while comprising less than ten per cent of vehicles on the road,” said Gregory Poilasne, CEO of Nuvve. “Many fleet owners want to electrify, but high upfront cost and concerns about charging infrastructure are slowing down adoption. Our global V2G hubs and TaaS model is a strategic way of resolving both of those challenges while maximising the value of these vehicles by better harnessing renewable energy and reducing load on the grid.”

The V2G hubs will use Nuvve’s V2G EV charging technology that precisely manages the charging and discharging of parked EV batteries while prioritising vehicle and driver considerations including battery health and charge needs for driving duties. The system can combine the energy from multiple EV batteries to form virtual power plants (VPPs) to sell energy back to the grid and provide services that help with grid stability, predictability and resiliency.

These centres will be capable of serving multi-modal electric vehicle fleets from ride-share services to delivery fleets and school buses while supporting grid stakeholders from utilities to transmission system operators.

“Our vision is to have an initial deployment near our headquarters in southern California,” said Poilasne.

Nuvve has launched V2G projects on five continents and is deploying commercial services worldwide by developing partnerships with utilities, automakers and electric vehicle fleets. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California.