Nissan and ChargeScape Announce New Vehicle-to-Grid Pilot with Silicon Valley Power

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This week, ChargeScape, the automaker-backed joint venture focused on vehicle-to-grid integration, and Nissan announced a pilot with Silicon Valley Power (SVP) that will use parked EVs as flexible grid resources. The project is funded through the California Energy Commission’s Demand Side Grid Support program, designed to strengthen reliability during peak demand events.

At Nissan’s Advanced Technology Center in Silicon Valley, Fermata Energy’s bidirectional chargers will manage the flow of power stored in Nissan EV batteries back to the grid. ChargeScape will work with energy market partner Leap to dispatch this power during times of grid strain, creating additional supply to serve local data centers. The initiative is part of a broader virtual power plant (VPP) effort that ChargeScape and Leap are developing across California.

Rich Miller, Vice President of Vehicle Connected Services at Nissan U.S., said the collaboration highlights the dual role EVs can play for both drivers and communities. “Through this collaboration, we’re showcasing how electric vehicles can reinforce our communities’ electrical needs and deliver meaningful benefits to drivers,” he said in a press release.

Joseph Vellone, CEO of ChargeScape, linked the project directly to Silicon Valley’s role in the global AI economy. “AI is a fundamental component of American Dynamism, and our nation’s power grids must quickly adapt to supply data centers with the energy needed to maintain America’s competitive edge in places like Silicon Valley,” Vellone said. “Integrating Nissan’s EV batteries into Silicon Valley Power’s grid is a crucial first step to shoring up long-term grid reliability and rewarding the EV drivers who are part of the solution.”

For Fermata Energy, the pilot is also a demonstration of advanced software and hardware integration. “At Fermata Energy, we are demonstrating how AI-enabled V2X optimization can transform electric vehicles into intelligent grid resources,” said Hamza Lemsaddek, the company’s Chief Operating Officer. “By pairing our platform with bidirectional chargers at Nissan’s Innovation Lab, we’re proving that EVs can strengthen data center reliability, support utilities like Silicon Valley Power, and deliver real economic value back to drivers and communities.”

Leap, which will coordinate the dispatch of EV energy into SVP’s system, sees the project as part of a broader energy transition. “Our work with ChargeScape has shown the powerful potential of harnessing the EVs already on the road today to tackle urgent grid reliability challenges,” said Jason Michaels, CEO of Leap. “Activating these vehicles as flexible, dispatchable grid resources is a game-changing tool to help utilities manage higher loads and unlock economic growth while putting dollars back in the hands of ratepayers. We look forward to expanding our partnership with ChargeScape to serve more communities.”

The stakes are high: Silicon Valley is one of the world’s largest data center hubs, and the energy needs of AI workloads are outpacing traditional infrastructure growth. Utilities like SVP are under pressure to expand capacity without sacrificing reliability for residents and businesses. V2G programs such as this are seen as a way to mobilize existing EV batteries already in circulation as a buffer against peak demand.

ChargeScape says the pilot will inform the design of future V2G programs across California and beyond, with the added incentive of allowing EV owners to earn money for participating. Advocates argue that making EVs part of the grid solution could improve affordability while accelerating the clean energy transition.

Source: ChargeScape

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