(Photo Credit: Trillium)Trillium now offers onsite power generation for battery electric buses (BEBs). The renewable fuels and alternative fueling solutions provider, a member of the Love’s family of companies, made the announcement this week at the American Public Transportation Association’s 2018 Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.
As transit agencies transition their fleets to electric buses, onsite power generation helps communities overcome the risks associated with relying on utilities for power such as grid reliability, phased in demand changes, rate structure overhauls, and infrastructure needs, according to Trillium.
“The benefits of charging off-grid include controlling power supply and cost, improved capital and operational planning, no risk of rising utility rates, cost savings for fleets of all sizes, compliance with all local codes and the use of safe, clean and reliable power,” the company says.
Scalability is key for growing an EV fleet, says Bill Cashmareck, managing director of Trillium. As a BEB fleet expands, Trillium can add or upgrade generators or battery storage to match operational demand, he added. “This ‘grow as you go’ approach avoids potential overbuilding associated with a utility upgrade.”
The company specializes in designing, building, and operating more than 200 alternative fueling stations in the United States. Fuel offerings currently include compressed natural gas, hydrogen, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure as well as low carbon energy supply from renewable natural gas, solar installation, and onsite electricity generation. Altogether, Trillium and Love’s Travel Stops own 65 public access CNG facilities.
In May, Trillium formed a partnership with California-based EV Connect, which provides electric vehicle charging solutions. The two companies collaborated on installing EV charging infrastructure at three existing Love’s Travel Stops stores in California in Tulare, Ripon, and Coachella.
“By adding alternative fueling solutions like EV charging and hydrogen fueling to our portfolio, we are helping customers reduce tailpipe emissions,” Cashmareck said. “Pairing those solutions with renewable fuels reduces the total lifecycle emission profile of our customers’ fleets.”
