Partnership Reduces Grid Stress And Pays EV Owners

A new partnership aims to reduce the strain on the power grid while boosting electric vehicle adoption by putting money back in the pockets of EV owners.

The partnership between Leap and ChargeScape will create the nation’s largest EV virtual power plant, the companies announced Wednesday.

A virtual power plant, or VPP, combines the capacity of what’s known as distributed energy resources such as solar farms, EVs and EV chargers, batteries, household appliances, heating and ventilation equipment and others that can be flexibly charged or accessed to provide power back to the grid.

When effectively managed, a VPP can provide some of the same services as a traditional power plant.

Leap specializes in creating and managing VPPs, providing financial reward for its partners.

“What we’re enabling our partners to do is monetize what we call their flexibility, their ability to control load behind the meter, control these stationary batteries, or mobile batteries and EVs, and monetize them as capacity and energy for grid operators,” explained Leap CEO Jason Michaels, in an interview.

ChargeScape’s charging platform connects power grids with automotive brands that include BMW, Ford, Honda, Nissan and Tesla, also providing financial rewards to EV owners for their flexibility in charging their vehicles.

Owners sign up through the automaker’s app such as Ford Pass or My BMW, which they already use to manage charging their EVs, then enroll their electric meter with Leap.

“So we deliver all of these electric vehicles from all these automotive brands and all the flexibility that comes with their residential charging, and we plug that into Leap, and we sort of become part of their overall portfolio that they then bid into these energy markets to deliver flexibility,” said ChargeScape CEO Joseph Vellone, in an interview. “Leap will then tell us we need to either reduce demand during these hours on this day or actually the power grid needs more power. How much can we export through vehicle-to-grid charging? Leap makes sure that we get paid in the end.”

EV owners are then paid directly by ChargeScape through Venmo or PayPal.

The results are managing the strain on the power grid, especially during peak load periods such as the heat of summer when air conditioners are in high use and making it financially attractive to own an EV, say both Vellone and Michaels.

“At the end of the day, we are saving Americans money on their EV charging,” said Vellone. “By making EV charging more affordable, we are making EV ownership or leasing more affordable, reducing the total cost of ownership.”

The two systems are connected through Leap’s API and it’s that connectivity and complementary capabilities that has Michaels especially enthusiastic about partnering with ChargeScape.

“ChargeScape is a really exciting partner for us because of both their technical ability to be able to control the charging of all these different customer devices and their EVs, and also their reach and association with their OEM partners,” Michaels said. “That’s where I think this gets to be really exciting for everybody, because we can do this, not just for one utility program, but really unlock scale.”

The partnership is rolling out initially in California where automakers on the ChargeScape platform can earn additional revenue through the Emergency Load Reduction Program, a five-year pilot program designed to pay electricity consumers for reducing energy consumption or increasing electricity supply during periods of electrical grid emergencies.

Revenue is also available through California’s Demand Side Grid Support program which offers incentives to electric customers that provide load reduction and backup generation to support the state’s electrical grid during extreme events from May to October to reduce the risk of rotating power outages.

Beyond California, the partners plan to expand to states such as Texas and New York, which Vellone says, have similar power structures to California’s along with a high number of electric vehicles.