BELMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ocean View School District in Oxnard, Calif., has selected The Mobility House for its extensive fleet energy management expertise around the world to provide smart charging for the district’s new electric bus fleet project, construction for which is now complete. The pioneering project consists of four electric buses and four BTCPower chargers, funded by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and Ventura County Air Pollution Control District as well as electrical charging infrastructure provided by Southern California Edison. The Mobility House’s intelligent Charging and Energy Management system ChargePilot will harmonize Ocean View School District’s bus schedules, travel routes, battery life and local utility rates to deliver reliable, clean transportation at the lowest cost to the district.
“This groundbreaking project for the district marks a notable milestone on our journey to electrify our entire school bus fleet and reduce pollution in our community,” said Ocean View School District Director of Transportation Bob Brown. “The Mobility House team and their wealth of experience was invaluable for navigating not only the development of a sophisticated charging infrastructure but a new funding landscape as well.”
The school district is one of the first in Southern California Edison’s Charge Ready Transport Program, which provided funding for new infrastructure, such as upgrading the local transformer; adding a panel and meter; laying conduit and trenching; plus providing a 50 percent rebate for the chargers.
By deploying The Mobility House’s ChargePilot system, Ocean View School District will benefit from scheduled charging times that avoid time-of-use (TOU) rate charges, saving tens of thousands of dollars in the coming years, and also ensure timely student pickup and dropoff without concern over battery range. ChargePilot also provides a proactive alerting system that mitigates charging issues as well as collects charger usage data in compliance with the CEC grant requirement.
“School buses are by far the safest way for kids to get to school. But diesel-powered buses are not safe for kids’ developing lungs, which are particularly vulnerable to harmful air pollution. Making the transition to electric school buses that don’t emit pollution provides children and their communities with cleaner air and numerous public health benefits,” said Energy Commissioner Patty Monahan. “The Energy Commission is proud to support this transition to protect the health of children throughout the state, something that will help all Californians breathe easier.”
“Ocean View School District is to be commended for demonstrating what's possible for other districts in the county around the future of clean school bus transportation,” said Zoheb Davar, business development director for The Mobility House. “Our smart charging technology approach aligned fully with the project goals of creating an electric bus fleet that can grow over time. Now the district has the broadest options for future integration of different charging hardware infrastructure knowing our interoperable charging management system will interface smoothly."
Ocean View School District is the latest project in The Mobility House’s list of optimized electric bus fleets, including projects for Metro Transit in the St. Louis region and the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, two of the largest electric bus fleets in the U.S. and E.U. respectively. Through The Mobility House’s ChargePilot solution, operators can manage the charging of electric vehicles in transit depots, commercial office parking lots or multi-dwelling complexes of any size. The Mobility House intelligently distributes available grid power to ensure charging occurs at the most cost-effective times using a secure local and cloud-based solution that is modular, scalable and designed to interface with the broadest range of charging equipment and on-site facility systems.
To learn more about The Mobility House charging and energy management solutions, visit: mobilityhouse.com.
About The Mobility House
The Mobility House mission is to create an emissions-free energy and mobility future. Since 2009, the company has developed an expansive partner ecosystem to intelligently integrate electric vehicles into the power grid, including electric vehicle charger manufacturers, 750+ installation companies, 65+ energy suppliers, and automotive manufacturers ranging from Audi to Tesla. The Mobility House’s unique vendor-neutral and interoperable technology approach to smart charging and energy management has been successful at over 500 commercial installations around the world. The Mobility House has 155 employees across its operations in Munich, Zurich and Belmont, Calif. For more information visit mobilityhouse.com.
