Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), along with DOE National Labs, state and local governments, utilities, and private entities, announced a Vehicle-to-Everything Collaboration ("Collaboration") to accelerate the development and commercialization of vehicle-to-everything (i.e., "V2X") technologies, which include vehicle-to-grid, vehicle-to-building, and vehicle-to-home capabilities.
"Bidirectional plug-in electric vehicles ("PEVs") present the potential for increasing the country's energy security, economic vitality, and quality of life," said Angelina Galiteva, first woman Chair of the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors (CAISO). "Bidirectional PEVs, including plug-in hybrid electric and all-electric vehicles, could play a key role in the country's transportation future and present an opportunity to support the electrical grid as part of a broader approach to vehicle-to-grid integration. Fermata Energy has already demonstrated the commercial viability of V2X technology, and they are an integral part of this Collaboration."
John Wheeler, Fermata Energy's co-founder and CFO, and David Sandalow, a member of the Fermata Energy Board of Directors and former Under Secretary of Energy at DOE, attended the announcement along with officials from the U.S. Department of Energy, multiple California regulatory agencies, automotive OEMs, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11, The National Electrical Contractors Association, and many major California utilities, and others involved in the V2X industry.
"V2X technologies are essential to accelerating the adoption of EVs and scaling renewable energy on the grid," said David Slutzky, Founder and CEO of Fermata Energy. "We are excited to build on our existing partnerships with many of the MOU members by working with regulators to expand the reach of V2X and demonstrate its value to consumers, utilities, OEMs, and communities."
The members of the Collaboration reinforced the opportunities that exist today that will accelerate the commercialization and customer adoption of electric vehicles and encourage the EV industry to adopt bidirectional capabilities that allow V2X to increase the country's energy security, economic vitality, and quality of life while reducing the cost of EVs for the general consumer.
In a recent pilot program, Fermata Energy found that by plugging in one Nissan LEAF (the only EV with bidirectional charging capabilities on the market in the U.S. today), the Burrillville Wastewater Treatment Facility in Rhode Island received a check for $4,325 in three months by participating in a demand response program called Connected Solutions, which National Grid, the local utility, offers. Boulder, Colorado, recently demonstrated that one of their fleet EVs saved the city an average of $270 per month on their electric bill by leveraging Fermata Energy's proprietary V2X technology.
"Over the past few years, we have worked with many of our Collaboration partners to demonstrate that V2X works with utilities, municipalities, and fleet owners in saving money. It builds resiliency into our nation's grid," Slutzky said. "In working with our partners in this Collaboration, we will accelerate and enable bidirectional PEV integration into the electrical grid and increase energy security and independence in the United States."
