Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD and Levo Mobility LLC (“Levo”), a joint venture of Nuvve Holding Corp. and Evolve Transition Infrastructure LP, announced a collaboration to integrate Nuvve’s vehicle-to-grid (“V2G”) technology with a mix of BYD battery electric vehicles (“BEVs”) and plans for joint deployment of up to 5,000 BEVs over the next five years.
“The BYD-Levo collaboration has the potential to accelerate and transform the transportation sector at a critical time,” said BYD Motors President, Stella Li. “This innovative potential partnership leverages state-of-the-art BYD and Nuvve technologies and will provide access to Stonepeak’s financing, which will lower the cost of medium- and heavy-duty battery electric vehicle adoption for fleets of all types including mass transit, municipalities, last mile delivery and school districts.”
Nuvve’s proprietary V2G technology utilizes high-powered bidirectional charging stations, which not only charge the batteries but also discharge energy from the batteries back into the power grid as needed to help balance temporary spikes in electricity demand. Utilizing Nuvve’s bidirectional charging stations and proprietary software, the BEVs can act as energy storage assets discharging megawatts of capacity to the grid and performing other services that help stabilize the grid and prevent blackouts while ensuring that each BEV has enough charge for the next trip. In addition to saving electric fleets money by charging when utility rates are low, Nuvve’s platform also enables revenue opportunities from these grid services.
Through a preferred financing partnership with BYD, Levo intends to purchase up to 5,000 medium and heavy duty V2G-enabled BEVs over five years that may include transit buses and coaches, yard tractors, drayage and refuse trucks, last mile delivery vehicles and school buses.
Levo’s comprehensive offering streamlines electrification by providing fleet owners and operators with a turnkey solution that includes electric vehicles, associated charging infrastructure and energy management powered by Nuvve, maintenance, site planning, and more. These services are provided to customers for a fixed monthly payment with no upfront cost.
“Our collaboration with BYD continues the momentum of transportation electrification that Nuvve is passionate about,” said Gregory Poilasne, Chairman and CEO of Nuvve and Chairman of Levo Mobility. “By integrating our V2G platform with a variety of medium and heavy-duty electric fleets, we can introduce these vehicles to the grid in a much more intelligent and sustainable way, help integrate more renewable energy sources, and ultimately accelerate the reduction of harmful CO2 emissions.”
“We are very pleased to foster a fantastic working relationship with Levo, Nuvve, and Stonepeak,” said Sam Kang, BYD’s head of Total Solutions. “This partnership would provide a much-needed financing solution and the world’s leading V2G platform to catalyze the electrification initiative. Ultimately, this will reduce substantial carbon emissions so we can all have a breath of fresh air.”
“With over $20B in revenue and more than 65k electric buses deployed worldwide, BYD is a giant in electric mobility – we are thrilled to announce Levo’s partnership with BYD as its preferred financing partner,” said Trent Kososki, Managing Director at Stonepeak. “Our joint efforts aim to rapidly accelerate deployments of safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly electric transportation solutions leveraging Levo’s fully-financed solution. BYD’s customers now have a means to avoid up-front costs and immediately enjoy the immense benefits of electric vehicles including immediate, day one fuel and maintenance savings.”
