On Monday, Nuuve, the publicly listed EV transportation company that has developed a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging platform for electric vehicles, announced that it is launching a joint venture with private equity investor Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The partners’ sustainable infrastructure joint venture, to be called Levo Mobility LLC, will use Stonepeak’s capital to leverage Nuuve’s technology to accelerate fleet electrification in the United States, including thousands of electric school buses nationwide.
Stonepeak says it will commit up to $750 million to Levo, which will initially focus on electrifying school buses and associated charging infrastructure. Levo also plans to work with commercial fleets, such as last-mile delivery, ride hailing and ride sharing, and municipal services.
Nuvve’s V2G platform allows electric vehicle batteries to store energy, including renewables such as solar and wind, and then safely discharge part of this stored energy back to the grid while parked and plugged in. Additionally, V2G allows EVs to earn revenue by combining energy from multiple batteries to form virtual power plants (VPPs), and to access energy markets, sell energy back to the grid, and perform services that stabilize the grid.
Get on the bus
Levo’s initial focus on school buses comes at a time when the Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized electrification of the nation’s 480,000 school buses through its Infrastructure Plan. Building on this, Lawmakers recently announced a $25 billion bill to electrify school buses and, increasingly, Nuuve says, school districts are seeking to convert to zero emission vehicles to provide cleaner rides for students.
While some 95 percent of U.S. school buses are currently fueled by diesel, switching to electric is often prohibited by high upfront capital costs and the complexity of building and managing the charging infrastructure. Levo plans to address these obstacles through various flexible options, including a fully financed offering that covers the upfront costs of electric buses coupled with a complete charging solution powered by Nuvve’s V2G technology. Levo’s customers would then sign contracts for their electric fleets, regardless of size, that would provide predictable and known budget savings.
“We are thrilled to be working with Stonepeak, a leading infrastructure investor with significant expertise investing in energy, transportation, and logistics,” said Nuuve Chairman and CEO Gregory Poilasne. “Through our relationship, we plan to remove barriers that currently exist for school districts and other fleet operators to convert to electric vehicles. At the same time, we are expanding the use of Nuvve’s V2G technology to lower the total cost of ownership for end users. We look forward to working closely with the team at Stonepeak and our other partners in the EV ecosystem to continue delivering our technology and solutions to fleet customers, grid operators, electric utilities, and other stakeholders around the world.”
“The transition to electrification of transportation represents a meaningful opportunity to accelerate solutions to combat climate change,” Stonepeak Managing Directors Trent Kososki and William Demas said in a joint statement. “We are excited to team up with Nuvve, a leader of V2G technology and charging solutions. We believe our experience, relationships, and resources will create exciting opportunities for growth.”
Earlier this month, Nuuve unveiled its model for scalable V2G electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs (V2G hubs) to deliver transportation as a service (TaaS) for commercial EV fleets, and enhance grid resiliency. This V2G hub model centralizes renewable energy generation, bidirectional EV charging stations, and a suite of EV services while also providing financing options to purchase EVs. According to the company, the V2G hub model will likely be initially deployed near its headquarters in southern California.
