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Business Wire
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Business Wire
Leap and Xos Partner to Power the Grid with Electric Fleets
SAN FRANCISCO & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Leap, the leading platform for building and scaling virtual power plants (VPPs), and Xos, Inc., (NASDAQ:XOS), a leading electric truck manufacturer and fleet services provider, today announced a new partnership to unlock grid revenue opportunities for electrified fleets. By connecting Xos Hub charging technology to energy markets through Leap's automated platform, the companies will create new value for fleet owners and deliver crucial support for the grid during energy emergencies. By connecting Xos Hub charging technology to energy markets through Leap's automated platform, the companies will create new value for fleet owners and deliver crucial support for the grid during energy emergencies. Share Xos manufactures electric stepvan vehicles used by some of the country's most recognizable logistics companies, including FedEx and UPS. The company's Xos Hub is a mobile, battery-integrated charger designed to speed up fleet electrification without the delays or costs of traditional infrastructure. It provides a versatile, scalable solution for stopgap charging, remote deployments, semi-permanent charging, and backup power. Now, by using Leap's software-only VPP platform, Xos can enroll its customers in California's Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS) grid services program. During emergency grid events, participating fleets will automatically shift charging from the grid to their Xos Hub battery-integrating chargers, relieving grid strain while generating revenue. Last summer, with major contributions from Leap, DSGS helped California avoid blackouts during prolonged heatwaves. With the addition of Xos's rapidly growing portfolio, Leap and its partners are poised to scale their impact and deliver even greater support to the grid. 'Leveraging our complementary technologies, Leap and Xos are tapping new value streams for commercial truck fleets, the transportation services that power our economy,' said Jason Michaels, CEO of Leap. 'Together, we're making these fleets cleaner, smarter, and more cost effective, while contributing to a more resilient energy landscape.' Leap's universal API suite automates energy market operations, enabling Xos to quickly deploy and scale its own VPP offering without additional hardware or significant additional operational overhead. This means that Xos can immediately start generating new grid revenue, reducing the total product cost for customers and driving ongoing energy savings. 'Our VPP offering gives fleet customers advanced energy capabilities without compromising control or convenience,' said Dakota Semler, CEO of Xos, Inc. 'It's a powerful way to lower the cost of infrastructure ownership even further, maximize the value of our products, and support customers in meeting their electrification goals.' About Leap Leap is the leading platform for launching and scaling virtual power plants (VPPs). Through its software-only solution, Leap facilitates fast, easy and automated access to demand response and other grid services revenue streams for the providers of battery storage systems, EV chargers, smart building technologies, and other distributed energy resources (DERs). Managing over 200,000 energy sites and devices across U.S. energy markets, Leap empowers more than 90 technology partners and their customers to unlock new value and help create a more flexible, resilient grid powered by renewable resources. Visit to learn more. About Xos, Inc. Xos is a leading technology company, electric truck manufacturer, and fleet services provider for battery-electric fleets. Xos vehicles and fleet management software are purpose-built for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles that travel on last-mile, back-to-base routes. The company leverages its proprietary technologies to provide commercial fleets with battery-electric vehicles that are easier to maintain and more cost-efficient on a total cost of ownership (TCO) basis than their internal combustion engine counterparts. For more information, visit
Forbes
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Partnership Reduces Grid Stress And Pays EV Owners
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 30: The sun shines over towers carrying electical lines in South ... More San Francisco, California. (Photo by) A new partnership aims to reduce the strain on the power grid while boosting electric vehicle adoption by putting money back in the pockets of EV owners. The partnership between Leap and ChargeScape will create the nation's largest EV virtual power plant, the companies announced Wednesday. A virtual power plant, or VPP, combines the capacity of what's known as distributed energy resources such as solar farms, EVs and EV chargers, batteries, household appliances, heating and ventilation equipment and others that can be flexibly charged or accessed to provide power back to the grid. When effectively managed, a VPP can provide some of the same services as a traditional power plant. Graphic shows how the concept of virtual power plants, or VPPs, works. Leap specializes in creating and managing VPPs, providing financial reward for its partners. 'What we're enabling our partners to do is monetize what we call their flexibility, their ability to control load behind the meter, control these stationary batteries, or mobile batteries and EVs, and monetize them as capacity and energy for grid operators,' explained Leap CEO Jason Michaels, in an interview. Graphic explains payment arrangement using virtual power plants. ChargeScape's charging platform connects power grids with automotive brands that include BMW, Ford, Honda, Nissan and Tesla, also providing financial rewards to EV owners for their flexibility in charging their vehicles. Owners sign up through the automaker's app such as Ford Pass or My BMW, which they already use to manage charging their EVs, then enroll their electric meter with Leap. 'So we deliver all of these electric vehicles from all these automotive brands and all the flexibility that comes with their residential charging, and we plug that into Leap, and we sort of become part of their overall portfolio that they then bid into these energy markets to deliver flexibility,' said ChargeScape CEO Joseph Vellone, in an interview. 'Leap will then tell us we need to either reduce demand during these hours on this day or actually the power grid needs more power. How much can we export through vehicle-to-grid charges? Leaps makes sure that we get paid in the end.' EV owners are then paid directly by ChargeScape through Venmo or PayPal. The results are managing the strain on the power grid, especially during peak load periods such as the heat of summer when air conditioners are in high use and making it financially attractive to own and EV, say both Vellone and Michaels. 'At the end of the day, we are saving Americans money on their EV charging,' said Vellone. 'By making EV charging more affordable, we are making EV ownership or leasing more affordable, reducing the total cost of ownership.' The two systems are connected through Leap's API and it's that connectivity and complementary capabilities that has Michaels especially enthusiastic about partnering with ChargeScape. 'ChargeScape is a really exciting partner for us because of both their technical ability to be able to control the charging of all these different customer devices and their EVs, and also their reach and association with their OEM partners,' Michaels said. 'That's where I think this gets to be really exciting for everybody, because we can do this, not just for one utility program, but really unlock scale.' The partnership is rolling out initially in California where automakers on the ChargeScape platform can earn additional revenue through the Emergency Load Reduction Program, a five-year pilot program designed to pay electricity consumers for reducing energy consumption or increasing electricity supply during periods of electrical grid emergencies. Revenue is also available through California's Demand Side Grid Support program which offers incentives to electric customers that provide load reduction and backup generation to support the state's electrical grid during extreme events from May to October to reduce the risk of rotating power outages. Beyond California, the partners plan to expand to states such as Texas and New York, which Vellone says, have similar power structures to California's along with a high number of electric vehicles.
