Phoenix Motorcars to give all its EVs – past and present – V2G capabilities

The California-based company is partnering with Fermanta Energy to fit all its electric vehicles with Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) capabilities. That concerns all of Phoenix Motorcars’ medium-duty vehicles – from the first generation of electric school buses, shuttle buses and trucks delivered in 2014 to the current generation.

“At Phoenix, our goal is to enable fleets to derive the most benefit from their electrification efforts. The partnership with Fermata Energy brings V2G capabilities to our vehicles and is a critical piece in achieving this goal,” says Denton Peng, CEO of Phoenix. “We are also very proud to enable this feature for all of our past production vehicles, a first in the industry.”

According to the OEM, a software update suffices to enable V2G capabilities for older vehicles.

Fermata Energy’s solution, the FE-20 bidirectional chargers, uses a CHAdeMO connection to charge and discharge the EVs’ batteries at a rate of 20 kW. Next-generation vehicles will even be fitted with 60 kW V2G capabilities using the CCS charging protocol.

The two companies also signed a commercial partnership agreement “to enable the seamless deployment of V2G capable vehicles, chargers and managed V2G services.”

Moreover, Phenix Motorcars announced the launch of its Gen 4 retrofit electrification solution for medium-duty vehicles. According to the company, it can be used to “electrify a range of current internal combustion engine vehicles including shuttle buses, school buses, paratransit buses, box trucks, cargo vans and various work trucks.”

The Gen 4 e-drive system is available with different battery options, offering ranges from 115 to 150 miles on one charge. It also enables fast-charging with up to 100 kW via CCS.

fermataenergy.com (V2G), phoenixmotorcars.com (Gen 4 e-drive system)