Zum Launches Nation’s First School District with 100% Electric, Bidirectional V2G School Bus Fleet in Oakland

Oakland Unified School District’s 74 EV school buses and charging infrastructure provides up to 2.1 gigawatt hours of energy back to the grid, reduces 25,000 tons of emissions annually

OAKLAND, Calif., May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zūm, the modern student transportation platform, announced today that Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) will be the first major school district in the U.S. to transition to a 100% electrified school bus system with groundbreaking vehicle-to-grid technology. Zum is providing a fleet of 74 electric school buses and bidirectional chargers in Oakland, managed through its AI-enabled technology platform. The all-EV fleet will not only transport students sustainably, but also play a critical dual role as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), giving 2.1 gigawatt hours of energy back to the power grid at scale annually.

“We at Zum strongly believe it is time to move beyond pilots and deploy sustainability solutions at scale. Converting the Oakland Unified school bus fleet to 100% electric with VPP capability is the right step in that direction,” said Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO of Zum. “This historic milestone is a win-win proposition: Electric school buses with V2G provide students with cleaner, fume-free transportation and allow us to send untapped energy from the bus batteries back to the grid, creating an enormous impact on grid resilience. Zum is proud to have delivered on this ambitious project a year ahead of schedule.”