“V2B Oakland”
Center for Transportation and the Environment, Inc.
Recipient
Atlanta, GA
Recipient Location
$384,856
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
During 2025, evolving market conditions and shifts within the zero-emission bus industry created challenges related to the required site-side and bus-side modifications to support bidirectional charging. CTE is actively working to secure the necessary additional technical partnerships and vehicle platform solutions to fulfill the project’s original purpose. Discussions are focused on validating bidirectional charging capabilities and demonstrating exportable power from zero-emission vehicles to support community resilience centers during grid outages.
The Issue
Climate change, extreme weather, and natural disasters can severely disrupt the electrical grid by simultaneously increasing energy demand, damaging infrastructure, and triggering public safety power shutoffs. These disruptions can leave communities vulnerable to extended outages, particularly those in high-risk areas. By utilizing electric vehicles with substantial energy storage as mobile generators, sites can reduce their reliance on grid transmission during emergencies. A growing fleet of electric vehicles can serve as a backup power source and supply energy to critical facilities and essential resources when the grid is compromised. This project implements a vehicle-to-building (V2B) solution that enhances energy resilience while also increasing the value proposition of electric vehicle ownership, particularly medium- and heavy-duty fleet vehicles. By enabling bidirectional power transfer, the project supports the state’s broader energy resilience goals and demonstrates the benefits of integrating electric vehicles into emergency preparedness strategies.
Project Innovation
This project, in partnership with electric transit bus manufacturer New Flyer, aims to advance and demonstrate bus exportable power systems. These systems enable battery and fuel cell electric buses to discharge stored energy to buildings or critical loads. New Flyer plans to develop this technology into a commercial product for its electric bus platforms and expand the potential applications of bidirectional power transfer.
The project will conduct a demonstration using electric transit buses to power critical HVAC and air filtration systems at a community center in West Oakland, as well as essential operations and services at an AC Transit bus yard. Additionally, the project will collaborate with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), a community-based organization, to integrate bus exportable power capabilities into local resilience planning. This technology will help mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, wildfire smoke, and extreme heat, strengthening the community’s ability to respond to emergencies and climate-related disruptions.
Project Goals
Demonstrate bidirectional capability with both a battery electric and fuel cell electric transit bus.
Export power from electric transit bus to support critical community building loads during an emergency.
Collaborate with the community to integrate bus exportable power capabilities into local resilience planning.
Project Benefits
This project will increase the resilience of the AC Transit bus system and produce significant positive community health impacts by replacing fossil fuel backup power solutions with a zero-emission alternative. Deployment of this technology strengthens the disaster response capabilities of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in Alameda County, and particularly the West Oakland community, by providing a clean and mobile backup power solution to emergency centers. This solution will ensure AC Transit’s zero-emission buses can continue to operate in a widespread power outage event while providing West Oakland residents with a place of shelter during extreme heat or other emergencies.
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental Sustainability
This demonstration is anticipated to replace a diesel generator and support approximately 60 kW of critical facility load with power from the electric transit bus. Avoiding the estimated diesel consumption leads to avoidance of 99.9 lb-CO2 per hour, 0.53 lb-CO per hour, 2.5 lb-NOx per hour, and 0.18 lb-PM per hour.
Energy Security
Energy Security
This technology increases site resilience to electric outages. With the vehicle-to-building (V2B) system, each battery electric bus is expected to provide up to 350 kWh of energy to the site, and each fuel cell electric bus V2B system is expected to provide up to 650 kWh of energy to the site.
Key Project Members
Jay Woodbeck
Engineering Consultant
Center for Transportation and the Environment
Steve Clermont
Managing Director of Planning and Deployment
Center for Transportation and the Environment
Gregor Hintler
Managing Director
The Mobility House, LLC
Sarah Woogen
Head of USA Operations and Analytics
The Mobility House, LLC
John Westerman
Director, Project Development and Engineering
Schneider Electric USA, Inc.
John Ahrens
Senior Staff Design Engineer
Schneider Electric USA, Inc.
Brydon Owen
Director of Electrical Engineering
New Flyer of America Inc.
Michael McDonald
Operations Manager, Vehicle Innovation Center
New Flyer of America Inc.
Brian Beveridge
Co-Executive Director
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
Joe Callaway
Director of Capital Projects
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
Subrecipients
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
Schneider Electric USA, Inc.
New Flyer of America Inc.
The Mobility House, LLC
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
Match Partners
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
