CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — November 27, 2018 — Fermata Energy today announced an agreement to work with Nissan North America on a pilot program designed to cut Nissan’s power costs at Nissan’s North American headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., and its design center in San Diego, Calif.

The Nissan Energy Share pilot program, announced at the 2018 Nissan Futures Event, will use Fermata Energy chargers, Fermata Energy’s proprietary software system, and Nissan LEAFs to demonstrate the potential of bidirectional charging technology that not only receives power from the grid, but also sends power from vehicle batteries back to the building to reduce electricity costs.

“EVs can earn money while they are parked,” said David Slutzky, Founder and CEO of Fermata Energy. “We are excited to be working with Nissan, a global leader in vehicle electrification, to demonstrate the potential for using the energy stored in EV batteries to benefit vehicle owners in new ways beyond driving the vehicle. Nissan’s commitment to this pilot project demonstrates its visionary understanding of the potential of EVs.”

As the name implies, bidirectional charging technology means an electric vehicle not only receives power from the grid but has the capability to send power stored in its battery pack to partially power external electrical loads, such as buildings and homes, and even to provide energy back to the grid.

“As the only vehicle on the market utilizing bidirectional charging, the Nissan LEAF proves exceptionally useful while on the road and also while parked,” said Brian Maragno, Director, EV Sales and Marketing, Nissan North America, Inc. “As a pioneer in the EV space, we’re thrilled to continue to show new, meaningful technologies that leverage the LEAF’s growing capabilities.”

In addition to developing its charging technology and software system, Fermata Energy has spent several years studying potential commercial applications for the energy storage on board electric vehicles and plans to bring several of these to the market in 2019. By partnering with Nissan on this important pilot project, Fermata Energy will be able to further refine its ability to help customers earn money with a parked EV.

"Fermata Energy has found a way to unlock the code and unleash the untapped value in electric vehicle batteries” Tony Posawatz, EV pioneer and a Fermata Energy advisor said today. “Now customers and fleet owners can make money while their EVs are parked. This breakthrough technology will increase the adoption of electrified vehicles.

Fermata Energy provides bidirectional EV charging technology controlled by its software system to enable inter-operability between vehicle, charger and grid or building. While Fermata Energy’s system is designed to work with any bidirectional charger or vehicle, the Nissan LEAF is currently the only bidirectional capable EV on the market. Fermata Energy plans to bring the first UL Certified bidirectional charger in the US to the market in early 2019.

Fermata Energy was founded for the dual purposes of accelerating the adoption of EVs, as well as accelerating the transition to a renewable energy future. By bringing the energy storage on board EVs to the electric power grid, Fermata hopes to make EVs cost competitive and help overcome the challenge of energy storage for the grid. According to David Sandalow, Inaugural Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy and a Fermata advisor, "Vehicle-to-grid technology has tremendous disruptive potential, helping integrate renewable energy into the electric grid and accelerate vehicle electrification."

Nissan's release is available here.

ABOUT FERMATA ENERGY:

Fermata Energy’s proprietary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) software and bidirectional hardware technology turns EVs into energy-storage assets, and makes it possible for EVs to combat climate change, increase energy resilience, and reduce energy costs. For more information, visit www.fermataenergy.com, and follow us on Twitter (@FermataEnergy), LinkedIn, and Facebook.

ABOUT NISSAN NORTH AMERICA:

In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program and has been recognized annually by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year since 2010. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and INFINITI vehicles can be found online at www.nissanusa.com and, www.infinitiusa.com, or visit the U.S. media sites nissannews.com and infinitinews.com.