Liberty Access Technologies Announces More School Bus Charging Projects

Santa Barbara, CA – November 15, 2019: Liberty Access Technologies (LAT) reported they have shipped 5 HYDRA-RX AC Fast Charger Controllers to 4 school districts who are preparing to receive new electric school buses. Rescue Union School District received two HYDRA-RX systems with a total of 14 charging stations, Exeter Unified received one HYDRA-RX system with 10 chargers while Eureka Union and Calaveras Unified School Districts each received one HYDRA-RX system for 3 charging stations.

“These deliveries mark the real start of the campaign to provide our children with a clean and safe school transportation system.” Said Chris Outwater, President of LAT who added “The transition to electric school buses requires a coordinated effort on the part of utilities, charger makers, the bus OEMs, their dealers and school district transportation management. We’re proud to be in the vanguard of this rapidly growing national movement.”

The HYDRA-RX is a local controller specifically designed to control high output alternating current (AC) charging stations that provide over twice the charging power of standard AC chargers. The extra power is needed to charge the much larger battery packs of electric school buses, both overnight and also during the day when the buses are idle while school is in session.

“AC Fast Charging (ACFC) is ideal for the medium duty electric buses and trucks that travel less than 120 miles per day and are parked overnight in a central yard or depot” Mr. Outwater continued. “Using high output basic chargers provides quick recharging times at a fraction of the cost of DC Fast Chargers (DCFC).”

Mr. Outwater says another 5 school districts have committed to order the HYDRA-RX and is in discussions with at least twice that many, the result of significant funding for electric school buses coming from several state agencies such as the California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) as well as several local air quality management districts including the South Coast AQMD and Bay Area AQMD. Approximately $70m from the state’s share of the Volkswagen Mitigation Fund has also been dedicated.

Liberty Access Technologies and WattTime Partner to Bring Green Charging to EV Fleets

Smart charging technology will allow schools and workplaces to charge electric buses, vans and more with clean energy

Santa Barbara, CA and Oakland, CA, October 16, 2019 — Today electric fleet charging technology company Liberty Access Technologies (Liberty) and environmental tech nonprofit WattTime announced a new clean charging partnership to support schools and workplaces in their transition to all-electric fleets. WattTime’s Automated Emissions Reduction (AER) software will integrate with Liberty’s charging technology to allow buses, vans, and more to automatically charge with clean power.

Liberty offers electric vehicle charging systems for the new generation of electric school buses and delivery vans. Their current clients hail from the utility space, government, the private sector, and include names such as San Diego Gas and Electric, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Los Angeles County. Expanding to support school districts’ electrification of transportation is the next step in the company’s growth. Liberty’s core offering is the HYDRA-RX AC Fast Charger Controller, which produces quick charging times at a fraction of the cost of DC Fast Chargers, enabling schools to convert more quickly to electric buses.

“As firm believers in a clean mobility future, we feel it’s imperative to support schools and workplaces as they make the switch to all-electric fleets,” said Chris Outwater, CEO of Liberty. “By incorporating WattTime’s AER software with our cost-saving charging technology, we can ensure they benefit from both financial savings and carbon savings. We’re excited to help these groups reach their sustainability goals without sacrificing the quality of service.”

WattTime’s recently-released EV charging report—How Emissions-Optimized EV Charging Enables Cleaner Electric Vehicleshighlights just how powerful their AER-enabled smart charging can be. In the report, WattTime finds emissions-optimized EV charging can further reduce associated EV-charging emissions by nearly 20 percent annually and up to 90 percent on individual days. This is above and beyond standard emissions savings that come from choosing an electric vehicle over a gas-powered alternative.

“School buses and corporate fleets represent a perfect opportunity for AER to drive emissions reductions; these vehicles are only used a fraction of the day and can otherwise remain plugged in to optimize charge times for the cleanest electricity,” said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. “The added bonus is that—instead of exposing schoolchildren or employees to tailpipe emissions—we’re helping make electric vehicles the norm.”

Electric mobility is just one of many sectors that technology provider WattTime is involved with. Their solutions make it easy for anyone to choose clean energy and achieve emissions reductions without compromising cost and user experience. WattTime’s AER software enables smart devices of all kinds—from EV chargers to smart thermostats to water heaters—to automatically opt to use clean energy. AER monitors power generation and marginal emissions rates in real-time, then uses that data to optimize energy use based on the environmental impact of consuming electricity at a given moment.

Liberty’s announcement to team up with WattTime comes soon after another partnership launched with electric company PG&E. The two will work together to support the electrification and clean energy goals of a school district in Northern California by collaborating on eco-friendly charging options for electric buses. Their pilot will be a test case for PG&E’s new FleetReady program.

About Liberty Access Technologies

LAT specializes in access control systems for electric vehicle charging in the parking industry, fleet EV and multi-tenant dwellings. LAT’s patented Synchronous Code Generation technology enables secure charging without expensive networks, and the Hydra Multi EVSE Control system enables cost-effective large scale EV charging solutions for workplace and multi-tenant. Our mission is to use our patented technology to enable our customers to control access, costs and carbon emissions via our “grid-aware” technology.

Find out more at www.libertyaccesstechnologies.com or www.linkedin.com/company/liberty-access-technologies

About WattTime

WattTime is a nonprofit with a software tech startup DNA, dedicated to giving everyone everywhere the power to choose clean energy. Our Automated Emissions Reduction (AER) technology can shift the timing of flexible electricity use to sync with times of cleaner energy and avoid times of dirtier energy. We sell solutions that make it easy for anyone to achieve emissions reductions without compromising cost and user experience. WattTime is a subsidiary of Rocky Mountain Institute.

For more information, please visit WattTime.org.

Media Contact
Chris Outwater
CEO – Liberty Access Technologies
chris@libertyplugins.com or 866-791-9802