Connecting EVs to the grid

The Path to Drawdown: EV Infrastructure

Internal combustion engine vehicles still dominate transportation today, but electric vehicles (EVs) are poised to transform that landscape. The IEA estimates that there are now 11 million electric passenger cars and vans on the road thanks to supportive policies and falling costs.

The difference in impact on the climate is remarkable. Compared to internal combustion vehicles, CO2 emissions drop by 50% if an EV’s power comes off the conventional grid. If powered by solar energy, emissions are cut by 95%. Once households purchase EVs, the operating costs for those cars are often cheaper than gas-based cars, too.

But just like ubiquitous gas stations enable internal combustion engines, one critical factor for EVs to become the primary transportation method is a wider adoption of EV charging infrastructure. Most charging of EVs is done at home and work today. But for EVs to be more widely adopted, publicly accessible charging needs to be rolled out to encourage households without access to private chargers to opt for EVs.

For now, the ratio of chargers to EVs is far lower than what it needs to be in most countries, with the US near the bottom of the ranking among developed countries at 0.06 chargers per EV. Companies and governments around the world are currently implementing policies and incentive programs to expand EV infrastructure networks.

To achieve an all-electric transport sector in line with keeping global warming under 1.5ºC of warming, the IEA projects a dramatic increase in the number of EV chargers globally between now and 2030:

There were 10.3 million EV chargers in 2020
There need to be 215.2 million chargers by 2030
35.5% CAGR between 2020 and 2030

About

NUVVE Corporation (stock ticker: NVVE) develops vehicle-to-grid (V2G) software technology. Their Grid Integrated Vehicle platform (GIVe) transforms electric vehicles into grid assets when charging and uses electric vehicles to store and resell energy to the electric grid. Founded in 1996, they're headquartered in San Diego, California.

NVVE's Role in Drawdown

Nuvve sells a technology platform that enables EV batteries to store and resell unused energy back to the local electric grid and provide other grid services. That platform is their Grid Integrated Vehicle platform (GIVe). GIVe transforms electric vehicles into grid assets when charging and uses electric vehicles to store and resell energy to the electric grid. It's a cloud connected application that ensures each vehicle has enough charge for its next trip before calculating how much remaining capacity is available to sell to the grid.

Nuvve serves public organizations, businesses, and homes by reducing the cost of electric infrastructure and reducing CO2 emissions through its programs of workplace vehicle charging and campus fleet vehicle charging, commercial delivery fleet charging, and multi-unit dwelling car sharing and charging.

NVVE: What We Like

We'll update this section once Nuvve makes sustainability information available.

NVVE: What We Want to See Improve

Disclose Sustainability Metrics

As a company that recently went public, Nuuve has yet to publish a sustainability report. But as more investors demand transparency around their portfolio's carbon footprint, Nuuve too will inevitably feel the pressure to provide information on their role in the fight against climate change. We urge Nuuve's executives to disclose key sustainability metrics like their emissions, emissions avoided, sources of energy use, and amounts of waste generated.

Set Clear Goals

Once sustainability metrics are disclosed, Nuuve should set clear targets for how to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. These targets should be science-based, in line with the global commitment to stay under 1.5°C of global warming compared to pre-industrial times, and accompanied by a timeline for when to achieve these targets.