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    Zum Announces $140M in Funding for AI to Advance Vehicle-to-Grid Tech with EV School Buses

    Feb. 2, 2024
    This technology will reveal optimal times for discharging and recharging EV school buses – meaning idle buses can now send energy back to the grid for peak demand times
    Zum
    65bd277800a409001eb7277d Zum

    Zum, a student transportation services company, has announced a $140 million Series E funding round led by GIC, a global investment firm.

    This new capital will be utilized to accelerate the expansion of Zum’s AI-driven technology platform and advance the company’s efforts to fully decarbonize the school bus industry. When combined with fully EV school bus fleets, Zum will turn the bus batteries – which are 4-6 times larger than EV car batteries – into virtual power plants through its Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology.

    This technology will reveal optimal times for discharging and recharging EV school buses – meaning buses that would otherwise be sitting idle at bus depots can now send energy back to the grid for peak demand times – including evenings and during the summer.

    “Zum is on a mission to revolutionize student transportation, moving beyond the status quo towards a future where innovative technologies are used to advance sustainability efforts,” said Zum Founder and CEO Ritu Narayan. “This investment marks a pivotal moment in our journey, empowering us to turn school buses into powerful tools for environmental change.”

    Along with the V2G capabilities, the AI technology will also allow schools to increase efficiency and reduce the costs of managing student transportation fleets by increasing visibility so schools can optimize routes.

    Route optimization is a critical component because optimized routes mean less time on the road and more capacity to transfer energy back to the grid.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.