Benzinga | Oct 5, 2021 04:18PM EDT

Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Inks Deal With Nuvve JV For 5,000 EVs To Electrify US Fleets

Chinese automaker BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDF), backed by Warren Buffett, announced Tuesday a partnership with Levo Mobility for electrification of U.S. fleets.

What Happened: BYD and Levo announced a collaboration to offer fully-financed "vehicle-to-grid technology with a mix of BYD battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and plans for joint employment up to 5,000 BEVs over the next five years."

Levo is a joint venture of Nuvve Holding Corp (NASDAQ:NVVE) affiliates Stonepeak Partners and Evolve Transition Infrastructure LP (NYSE:SNMP). It provides fleet-as-a-service solutions, enabling fleets to switch to EVs.

Through a preferred financing partnership with BYD, Levo intends to purchase EVs that may include transit buses and coaches, yard tractors, drayage and refuse trucks, last-mile delivery vehicles and school buses.

Related Link: Warren Buffett-Backed Automaker BYD Sees 197% Spike In EV Sales In September, Outdoes Nio, Other Chinese Rivals

Why It's Important: Nuvve's bidirectional charging stations and proprietary software help BEVs act as energy storage assets discharging megawatts of capacity to the grid and performing other services that help stabilize the grid and prevent blackouts while ensuring that each BEV has enough charge for the next trip.

"This partnership would provide a much-needed financing solution and the world's leading V2G platform to catalyze the electrification initiative. Ultimately, this will reduce substantial carbon emissions so we can all have a breath of fresh air," said Sam Kang, BYD's head of Total Solutions.

At market close Tuesday, BYD's OTC-listed shares were up 4.11% at $31.91, Nuvve was up 1.64% to $11.15 and Evolve Transition shares were jumped 8.55% to $1.27.

Related Link: EV Week In Review: Tesla Pushes Out FSD Broader Beta Rollout, Chinese Trio Delivers, Ford Doubles Down On EV Investment, Lordstown's Prudent Strategy

Photo: Courtesy BYD