Nissan Approves Fermata Energy Bidirectional Charger for Use With Leaf EV
Bidirectional charging is becoming increasingly common among electric vehicles, but it’s a more complicated thing than it may first appear. That 120-volt plug in the cargo area of an electric SUV that you can use to power a blender and make your signature margarita at the tailgate is technically bidirectional charging. So is an EV that draws power from solar panels on the roof of the garage and feeds it back into the electrical grid — but the hardware that enables the two functions is very different.
Thus, Nissan’s announcement that it has approved the Fermata Energy FE-20 bidirectional charger and V2X Platform for use with the Leaf is more consequential than the typical automotive branding effort — say, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing using Brembo brakes.
Related: What’s Bidirectional Charging and Which EVs Offer It?
Bidirectional charging for high-powered applications such as powering your home in an electrical outage (so-called vehicle-to-home, or V2H) or feeding surplus energy back into the grid (vehicle-to-grid, or V2G) requires specialized electrical components outside of the vehicle. That’s what the Fermata FE-20 is.
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High Value for Commercial Customers
Most EV chargers can only operate in one direction, taking electricity from the grid and using it to charge the vehicle’s battery. Systems like the Fermata FE-20, as well as Ford’s Intelligent Backup Power and GM Energy’s V2H kit, include the necessary hardware to send power the other way. The FE-20 is not something the average Leaf buyer will install at home. Fermata calls it “a profit center that is comparable in cost to quality, commercial ‘traditional’ chargers.” Kent O’Hara, president of Nissan’s 4R battery business, said in a statement, “The FE-20 offers valuable energy cost reduction capability to Nissan Leaf fleet customers.”
Nissan has direct experience with Fermata’s technology, having conducted a trial with the FE-20’s predecessor, the FE-15, at its U.S. headquarters in Franklin, Tenn. Over four years, the FE-15’s ability to charge connected Leafs during off-peak hours, when electricity is cheapest, and then feed that power back into the infrastructure during high-demand times of day cut nearly $9,500 from Nissan’s electric bills.
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Of course, that’s a large commercial facility; your at-home results will vary. However, one study from the University of Rochester suggests that EV owners operating residential versions of such technology could see savings of $120 to $150 per year. As the EV ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly, expect to see more automakers develop both commercial V2X systems like the Fermata FE-20 and at-home solutions like those offered by Ford and GM.
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