Zum Launches Nation’s 1st School District with 100% Electric, Bidirectional V2G School Bus Fleet in Oakland

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Oakland Unified College District’s 74 EV faculty buses and charging infrastructure offers as much as 2.1 gigawatt hours of vitality again to the grid, reduces 25,000 tons of emissions yearly

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — Zūm, the fashionable scholar transportation platform, introduced yesterday that Oakland Unified College District (OUSD) would be the first main faculty district within the U.S. to transition to a 100% electrified faculty bus system with groundbreaking vehicle-to-grid expertise. Zum is offering a fleet of 74 electrical faculty buses and bidirectional chargers in Oakland, managed by way of its AI-enabled expertise platform. The all-EV fleet is not going to solely transport college students sustainably, but in addition play a crucial twin position as a Digital Energy Plant (VPP), giving 2.1 gigawatt hours of vitality again to the ability grid at scale yearly.

“We at Zum strongly imagine it’s time to transfer past pilots and deploy sustainability options at scale. Changing the Oakland Unified faculty bus fleet to 100% electrical with VPP functionality is the best step in that route,” mentioned Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO of Zum. “This historic milestone is a win-win proposition: Electrical faculty buses with V2G present college students with cleaner, fume-free transportation and permit us to ship untapped vitality from the bus batteries again to the grid, creating an infinite impression on grid resilience. Zum is proud to have delivered on this formidable venture a 12 months forward of schedule.”

Pupil transportation is the biggest mass transit system within the nation, shifting 27 million college students twice every day. Immediately, over 90% of the nation’s 500,000 faculty buses run on carbon-based fuels, releasing over 8.4 million tons of greenhouse gases yearly exposing college students and communities to dangerous gases daily.

“Oakland turning into the primary within the nation to have a 100% electrical faculty bus fleet is a big win for the Oakland group and the nation as a complete,” mentioned Kim Raney, Govt Director of Transportation at Oakland Unified College District. “The households of Oakland are disproportionately deprived and affected by excessive charges of bronchial asthma and publicity to air air pollution from diesel fuels. Offering our college students with cleaner and quieter transportation on electrical faculty buses will likely be a recreation changer guaranteeing they’ve an equitable and stronger probability of success within the classroom.”

Electrification of such a big fleet with V2G capabilities requires an unlimited ecosystem of companions. Federal and California State applications which have been crucial to the acceleration of this venture are: the Environmental Safety Company’s (EPA) Clear College Bus program, California Air Useful resource Board (CARB), Heavy Automobile Incentive Program (HVIP) vouchers, Bay Space Air High quality Administration District (BAAQMD) and Clear Mobility Operations (CMO) applications.

The acceleration of the EV transition was the results of Pacific Gasoline and Electrical Firm’s, Zum’s utility accomplice, skill to supply 2.7 megawatts of load to Zum’s Oakland EV-ready facility in report time.

“PG&E is proud to work carefully with Zum and Oakland Unified in deploying what’s the largest electrical faculty bus fleet and vehicle-based, grid-supporting useful resource within the nation,” mentioned Mike Delaney, Vice President of Utility Partnerships and Innovation, PG&E. “Oakland is PG&E’s headquarters, it’s residence to lots of our clients and associates, and a metropolis we’ve proudly served for greater than a century. Attaining this superior fleet electrification and vehicle-grid-integration milestone for the individuals and college students of Oakland displays our dedication to delivering wonderful customer support outcomes for our hometowns utilizing breakthrough considering, collaboration and swift execution.”

Zum has set a aim of electrifying 10,000 bidirectional faculty buses which can create the potential to provide 300 gigawatt hours of vitality to the ability grids yearly. As well as, Zum is electrifying faculty buses in its fleet in districts throughout the nation, with San Francisco Unified and Los Angeles Unified – that are three and 6 instances the dimensions of Zum’s Oakland faculty bus fleet, respectively – to quickly comply with.

About Zūm

Zum is a contemporary transportation answer remodeling faculty transportation, the biggest mass transit system within the U.S. Immediately, the corporate offers turnkey fashionable transportation options to highschool districts in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Utah, and Virginia, and is increasing quickly nationwide. Acknowledged globally for its progressive transportation and vitality as a service platform, Zum has been featured amongst Quick Firm’s World Altering Concepts, CNBC Disruptor 50, CNBC Changemakers, World Financial Discussion board and Monetary Instances’ Quickest Rising Corporations. Study extra about Zum at www.ridezum.com.