Melbourne start-up is to lease electric vehicles to fleets

Hyundai Ionic Electric (Source: The Driven)

 

EV Lease is taking the plunge into electric vehicles (EVs) as it has been shown that running an electric vehicle fleet now costs less than a petrol and diesel fleet. What held up the adoption of EVs by leasers was the lack of resale data as companies need to be able to guarantee the value of cars after their lease life. But the director of EV Lease, Shane Priest, is taking a punt on the fact he knows EVs have less wear and tear, and will likely have a greater resale value at the end of their lease life than petrol cars. 

EV Lease, which is headquartered in the Melbourne suburb of Mitcham, Victoria, was founded by Priest to make electric vehicles more accessible to fleets, and perhaps eventually, private drivers. The company currently has 3 electric vehicles and one plug-in hybrid available: the Hyundai Ioniq Electric Elite, the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus, the Hyundai Kona Electric and a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. 

Read more: 

- Car lease startup places bet on electric vehicles for fleets. The Driven, August 13, 2020. 

- EV Lease: affordable, worry-free electric car driving 

London bus depot to provide vehicle-to-grid power during peaks

 

E-buses (Source: The Driven)

A North London bus depot is on the verge of becoming one of the world’s largest vehicle-to-grid (V2G) virtual power stations. The Northumberland Park bus garage will be transformed to be part of UK’s Bus2Grid project. 

The project will enable electric buses parked at the garage to plug in and feed stored electricity back into the grid to provide grid balancing during times of peak demand. It was announced by British energy firm SSE Enterprise and is being conducted in collaboration with bus operator Go-Ahead London. 

A trial will test 28 electric double-decker buses, which are capable of returning over 1MW of electricity back into the grid. The project could then be expanded by the end of 2021 to include the capability of connecting up to 700 electric vehicles to the grid, supplying as much as 25MW of electricity. 

Read more: 

- London bus garage becomes one of world’s largest vehicle-to-grid sites. The Driven, August 14, 2020. 

– London bus garage becomes world’s largest vehicle-to-grid-site. SSE Enterprise. Accessed August 18. 2020.

AGL Energy is to tender for 1.2GW of new battery storage by 2024

 

AGL's Nyngan Solar Farm (source: RenewEconomy)

AGL Energy of Australia plans to diversify its energy portfolio into clean energy options after receiving lower profits from its coal generators. It already has some large solar and wind farms and plans to add 1.2GW of battery storage to some of these renewable energy farms by 2024. 

AGL’s chief operation officer, Markus Brokhof, said “Although energy prices are lower, we still see an opportunity to invest as the composition of the portfolio shifts away from coal towards the new firmed renewable energy generation the market will need.” “AGL is to optimise dispatchable generation, support investment in firmed renewables and continue to invest in the accelerating emergence of batteries and other energy storage technologies.” 

Read more: 

- AGL targets 1.2GW of new battery storage by 2024, plans tender. RenewEconomy, August 13, 2020. 

- NSW to fund four new big battery projects as it readies to flick switch from coal. RenewEconomy, August 15, 2020. 

- AGL says batteries starting to compete with gas generators for peaking services. RenewEconomy, August 17, 2020.

 

Victorian town in bushfire zone adds solar and battery for community sports centre

Hepburn Sports Centre with Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance (One Step off the Grid)

The community sports centre of Hepburn, Victoria, has a solar and battery storage system which will reduce its electricity costs and emissions as well as supporting its role as a last resort community shelter in the case of a bushfire. Electricity power is one of the first supplies to be cut during severe bushfires. 

The Hepburn Recreation Reserve now has a 25kW solar system and a 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 battery. This system continues to operate when there is a grid outage. This large solar and battery combination will supply power day and night particularly in summer. Alone, the battery will provide power for a day and will be topped up quickly when it is sunny (a little slower if it is smokey or cloudy).

“The $31,818 cost of the solar and storage system was contributed to by the Hepburn Shire Council ($12,000), local community renewables outfit Hepburn Wind ($4,500), and the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance ($15,318) with $12,500 of that amount from a Bank Australia grant and $2,818 from the Hepburn Solar Bulk-Buy.” 

Read more: Solar and Tesla Powerwall offer Victorian town bushfire resilience. One Step off the Grid, July 24, 2020.