NEXTNRG, INC. 10-K

Item 1. Business Overview EzFill is an on-demand fuel delivery company in South Florida and the only mobile fueling company that combines on-demand fills and subscription services which fill customer vehicles on routine intervals for the consumer, fleet, marine and other specialty markets. The emergence of digital technology, GPS-Based / On-Demand consumer deliveries, and the sharp increase in home delivery of products and services during the COVID-era are trends expected to continue in the post-COVID economy. The increased adoption rate of such ‘at home’ or ‘at work’ delivery of products and services has become the method both individual and commercial customers prefer. EzFill provides customers in South Florida the ability to have fuel delivered to their vehicles (cars, trucks, and specialty vehicles) without having to leave the comfort of their home, office, and job site. EzFill’s app-based platform conveniently brings the gas station to customers with a growing fleet of EzFill-branded, Mobile Fueling Trucks. EzFill’s business verticals align to the high-use, high demand cases in vehicle operations. These are individual CONSUMERS, COMMERCIAL entities and SPECIALTY vehicle markets . For CONSUMERS, EzFill services individual “consumer” customers directly at their residences or places of work. In the consumer vertical, EzFill customers sign-up for EzFill services individually, or as part of an employer which offers discounted EzFill services to their employees as an employee benefit while at work at offices, in office parks or on-job locations. Fuel deliveries are completed at optimal times during the day for ‘at work’ customers or at night for residential deliveries . In the COMMERCIAL vertical, EzFill provides vital fuel delivery services to commercial fleets of delivery trucks, rental cars, livery operators, and job sites. Deliveries for the commercial vertical are completed during down-times, when the majority of commercial vehicles are at designated locations. This method also allows EzFill to complete multiple fills at once, while providing the commercial customers the benefit of a fleet of fueled vehicles ready for operations on any given morning . In the SPECIALTY vertical, EzFill adapts to each market based on the type of vehicles that can benefit from “at location” fuel delivery. In EzFill’s home market, Florida, their “specialty” vertical services hundreds of boat owners at their homes or at marinas at which they are docked. EzFill’s specialty market also includes equipment rental companies, construction job sites, agricultural operations, motorsports events and recreational vehicle grounds. 3 EzFill Model – Resolving Pain Points in the Consumer and Commercial Fuel Customer Markets EzFill’s experience in this market indicates that the legacy gas station model is ripe for disruption specifically by a model which works to address major issues with the status of the industry, such as : ● Convenience. People find going to the gas station inconvenient and time consuming. Leaving the house a little late in the morning on an empty tank means arriving late to the office or stopping for gas on your way home after a long day is inconvenient. This number does not include the time it takes to drive to and from the gas station. Our solution saves our customers valuable time and shaves time off of our customers’ commutes to and from work. Our Mobile Fueling Truck brings a convenient fueling solution that is disrupting the current industry by saving our customers valuable time and helping them to avoid the stress of not having a full tank of gas . ● Fleet Driver Expense. When fleet managers send their vehicles to the gas station to fill up, they are paying for: (i) the driver to take the vehicle to the gas station; (ii) the gas the vehicle consumes on the way to and from the gas station; (iii) wear and tear on the vehicle being driven to the gas station; and (iv) indirectly the downtime for the vehicle being driven to the gas station, which usually will be during the regular working day due to the fact that an employee must take the vehicle there. When fleet managers use EzFill, they only pay for gas and we fill up the vehicles after hours so there is no downtime during the regular working day . ● Fleet Driver Fraud. Research conducted by Fleet News confirmed the 64% of fleets have been the victims of fuel theft or fuel fraud. According to a survey conducted by Shell, 93% of fleet managers think that some of their drivers are committing fraudulent activity and 41% of fleet managers think that more than 10% of their drivers are committing fraudulent activity. According to Shell’s research, 48% of fleet managers think that improving practices to tackle fraud could reduce a fleets fuel spend by more than 5% and 14% of fleet managers believe it would reduce fuel spend by more than 10%. EzFill’s solution tackles fraud head on by taking the drivers out of the equation. EzFill brings the gas directly to our customers fleets and reduces the risk of driver related fuel fraud . ● Operating Costs. The rising cost of real estate in major metros, over the past couple of years has caused many gas stations to close their doors, leaving major cities without significant competition, which could lead to higher local gas prices. According to data provided by Fueleconomy.gov there were 168,000 gas stations in 2004, compared to just 115,000 gas stations reported by marketwatch.com in February 2020 (a 31% drop). EzFill’s App-based approach lowers our underlying costs and allows us to offer gas with competitive pricing in each zip code in which we operate. ● Safety Concerns. Gas stations have a reputation of being unsafe locations. This reputation developed due to the many robberies and assaults that occur at gas stations. According to FBI crime data, over the past five years 1.3% of all violent crimes occurred at gas stations. Violent crimes such as robberies and assaults are commonplace at gas stations because often, customer’s need to exit their vehicles in remote and secluded areas, at late hours, with improper lighting and security at the location. EzFill’s Mobile Fueling Trucks address these safety issues by bringing the gas to the consumer, who, from the comfort of their home or office can order a fill-up via our App without even going outdoors. The customer simply needs to place the order and leave the gas tank access open on their vehicle . ● Fraud Concerns. Gas stations are hubs for fraud issues. These issues primarily emanate from gas stations employing mostly old-fashioned magnetic strip credit card readers. Gas stations experience hundreds of millions of dollars in credit card fraud annually. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, more than 1500 skimmers were found at Florida gas stations in 2019. A study from FICO, found that fraud from credit card skimmers is increasing at a rate of 10% per year. The US Secret Service reports finding between 20 and 30 credit card skimmers at gas pumps, per week. EzFill’s platform does not store any customer credit card data and uses the latest in credit card processing technology to verify cards and secure customers’ payments to ensure authenticity of purchases . ● Addressing Environmental Concerns. We can never eliminate our environmental exposure completely. However, by delivering fuel to areas with high vehicle density, we are lowering the environmental impact by reducing the number of separate trips our customers make to refuel their vehicles. Since EzFill sources direct from oil companies on a daily basis, we have a very high turnover of inventory and do not store our fuel in underground tanks. All our tanks go through a rigorous annual inspection, plus they are visually inspected before and after every shift to ensure proper fuel storage and no loss of vapors. A rapid turnover of inventory and daily tank inspections are not available for underground tanks used by retail gas stations . 4 ● Sanitary and Touchless . According to a study conducted by the Kymberly Clark Group, the gas station pump handle is the dirtiest surface Americans touch on their way to work. Also, according to a recent study conducted by busbudy.com, gas station pumps have 11,000 times more bacteria than the common household toilet seat, while pump station buttons contain 15,000 times more. In addition to being germ and bacteria infested, a recent article by njtvonline.org highlighted the near impossibility of social distancing at self-service gas stations, further exacerbating the health risks of going to the gas station. Proper social distancing is required to help stop the spread of Covid-19. Our service is a sanitary and touch free way for our customers to get gas. We believe our service eliminates one of the dirtiest and most unhealthy places from our customers once mandatory to-do list . Our Product Offerings We provide gas delivery via our Mobile Fueling Trucks in the greater South Florida area as well as in the Tampa and Orlando areas and expect to soon begin fueling in other areas in Florida. Our goal is to service all our customers across all our lines of business at predictable locations during vehicle downtimes. Our fleet currently includes 24 Mobile Fueling Trucks that we utilize to deliver fuel directly to our customers. We have three major lines of business and to our knowledge we are the only company in the space which fuels all three verticals : 1. SERVICING CONSUMERS AT HOME AND AT WORK We offer residential fueling services to customers who can request a fuel delivery through our app and have fuel delivered directly to their vehicle, from the comfort of their home or apartment building , while they go about their night. We offer convenient weekly schedules to our residential customers, so they can live with the comfort of knowing that they will never be without a full tank of gas when they need it. Additionally, our competitive pricing keeps our residential customers from having to travel out of their neighborhood for lower gas prices. Our residential customers currently pay a delivery fee of $4.99 for each delivery or they have the option to pay $9.99 per month for unlimited deliveries. We may increase these prices in the future. We currently offer delivery to residential customers in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, as well as the Orlando and Tampa areas, and expect to soon begin deliveries in other parts of Florida. Our service is a great new amenity for condominiums, which has been widely used by residents of the buildings we service and has been enhancing residents’ experience . Through entering agreements with local and national businesses, we work directly with businesses human resource departments to offer employee perks, and fuel employees’ cars while they are working . This is a creative benefit for employers to offer, enabling their employees to have their cars filled, stress free. Additionally, we work directly with the landlords of corporate office parks to bring the amenity of EzFill to their tenants. Our corporate employee fueling is currently done at competitive prices with no delivery fee. Our corporate office park solution offers benefits to employers and EzFill. Benefits to employers include: (i) a new perk to offer their employees; and (ii) happier employees who do not have to waste precious time going to the gas station. Benefits to EzFill include: (i) multiple deliveries at one location creates efficiencies and cuts operating costs; (ii) the employers serve as “influencers” which reduces our marketing costs for each location; and (iii) push-marketing by the employers also results in more residential consumer fills . 2. SERVICING COMMERCIAL ENTITIES We partner with and offer national and local businesses who operate fleets an alternative solution for fueling their fleet to reduce the businesses operational costs and improve fleet efficiency. Our solution for fleets helps businesses: (i) save money spent on expensive gas stations; (ii) save money on paying employees to go to gas stations; (iii) eliminate unnecessary wear and tear to Company fleet vehicles on trips to the gas station; (iv) better monitor their gas consumption; (v) eliminate employee mistakes (putting regular gas into a diesel engine); and (vi) prevent theft by employees (customers have reported instances where it was months before they realized their employee was making unauthorized charges on their fleet card). This product offering is sold with zero fees, our fleet customers pay only for the gas they consume. We may charge delivery fees to fleet customers in the future . 5 3. SERVICING SPECIALTY MARKETS EzFill delivers fuel directly to other, market-specific personal and commercial vehicles and tanks. In our home market, the prevalence of boats and boat owners was the first specialty market we developed, particular to the south Florida area which is the base of our services. Marina gas stations are some of the highest priced in the country. We offer low prices and pre-scheduling so our marine customers can get affordable fuel whenever they need it. The same is true for the markets which we have targeted to enter. In these markets we find similar, market-specific vehicles which our future customers use for; construction or agricultural purposes, personal or recreational vehicle use, or sporting events where a large concentration of vehicles can be serviced at specific locations . Customers In addition to our individual, residential customers, we also have structured relationships with property management companies and builders who co-market our services as a benefit to their residents and allow our trucks to enter their communities to fill vehicle owners at their single-family homes, condominiums or apartments. Employers who have offered at-work fueling as a corporate perk have included Ryder, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Telemundo, Loreal, Y Green, and more. Customers we have signed up through our corporate offerings may also be customers of our residential offering. Our services are very flexible, and our residential customers do not have to sign any long-term commitments with us and can decide not to use our service whenever they choose. Our commercial vertical has serviced the fleets for many national and local businesses, such as a leading national delivery company, a leading national grocer, a leading OEM, Enterprise, Telemundo, Easy Scripts and Air Around the Clock. In our specialty market vertical, we service hundreds of boats at various marinas across Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, as well as boats at customers’ homes. We are a preferred delivery partner for a mobile application with thousands of boat-owner users. We have recently begun developing this line of business and it is growing, mostly through existing customer outreach and strategic partnerships with marinas. Software Systems, IT, User Interface and Experience Our software systems provide us with logistical and cost saving efficiencies that allow us to forecast the need for truckloads of fuel to effectively service clusters of customers in a specific area or zip code. At the front end of our system, we employ an app-based approach that provides all our customers with an easy-to-engage user interface and ordering system. Customers are able to select the times and locations of their on-demand or routinely scheduled fills and manage their account on their mobile device or desktop system. In the back end of our system, we aggregate customer orders based on their location and expected gallon demand for their vehicles. The aggregation of customer orders based on these variables triggers a truckload fill of one of our mobile tankers designated for each of the customer orders our system generates. Our software and IT systems have been developed and customized in-house to provide cost-saving efficiencies which produce higher margins than traditional, gas station fuel margins. We are planning to expand our software capabilities using AI and machine learning algorithms that will, among other things, automatically generate outbound “fill reminder” communications to customers based on their recorded usage amounts and time intervals. Our Mobile Application The EzFill Mobile Application has been designed for iPhone and Android devices with our customers and convenience in mind. Sign Up: The EzFill App provides a quick and easy registration process. 6 Profile Management: The EzFill App provides easy profile management where users can seamlessly update personal information, such as: vehicle details and location, this way we are able to provide the best services to our customers. Location Sharing: This feature enables our customers to simply drop a pin at their location on an integrated map which lets our driver know where to deliver the fuel. Request Fuel Delivery: The EzFill App lets our customers pick the type and quantity of fuel to be delivered in addition to the time and date of availability. Weekly Delivery Schedule: The EzFill App also enables our customers to preschedule weekly deliveries, on a specific day of the week. This feature enables our customers to request their delivery for a specific time window, this ensures they can schedule their fill up at convenient times when they would be busy attending other tasks and their car is idle. Push Notifications: The EzFill App has a push notification feature. This allows us to keep customers informed of all the activities associated with the service they have requested. We also use it to keep our customers updated with recent offers and discounts, which helps to boost customer satisfaction and promotes our business. Transaction History: The EzFill App offers our customers the ability to always view their transaction history. This gives our customers an option to check the previous fuel delivery requests and bills. Our Market Opportunity Information provided by Statista indicates that there are about 286 million registered cars in the United States as of Q1 2023. According to the US Energy Information Administration, in 2022 the US used approx. 369 million gallons of fuel per day, with Florida utilizing nearly 21 million gallons per day. According to Statista.com, in 2022, US gas stations produced revenues of roughly 738 billion dollars. EzFill wants to take advantage of the growing number of US drivers and the dwindling number of gas stations by bringing the gas directly to the consumers. We feel that our service is years in the making and solves many problems posed by the legacy gas station. EzFill presents a new way for Americans to get gas: at home, at the office, wherever, on demand. The on-demand market continues to grow. On-demand companies are operating and growing in the: ● Trucking & Delivery Services ● Food Delivery Services ● Beauty Services ● Housekeeping Services ● Healthcare Services ● Laundry Services EzFill believes that the on-demand market will continue to grow and this growth will benefit its gas delivery model. We believe our market opportunity is to expand into major MSAs across the continental U.S. with sufficient concentration of business and residential customers. We want to be in locations where people rely heavily on their personal cars to get places. Based on our research, we have identified several major MSAs across the U.S that would be attractive for expansion. As we expand to a new market, we plan to employ a strategy that has helped us build a strong base of business in our existing market. The strategy we developed begins with sales in our fleet category to build a base of business in the target city, while developing and strengthening our delivery operations. Next, after launch, we secure corporate and landlord agreements to allow us to begin marketing our services to their employees and tenants. These agreements include fueling at large office parks during daytime hours and fueling at residential buildings during nighttime hours. 7 We generate business through establishing corporate and landlord partnerships, we then leverage companies’ internal communication channels to market directly to their employees or residential tenants. By implementing our digital marketing campaigns as well as placement of our content throughout residential and corporate facilities, we are able to develop greater brand awareness. We coordinate with our partners to set up organic marketing efforts with our brand ambassadors to help increase recognition and assist users with downloading the app and setting up their accounts. Our Growth Strategy Our strategy is to leverage our established business partnerships and generate organic methods of acquiring new markets. This has given us significant brand recognition by the consumer and has enabled us to acquire competitor territories. In doing so, we have generated a substantial presence and footprint in the regional area in which we operate. As we continue to develop our business relationships and expand our geographic footprint in Florida, our goal is to open in new markets along the east coast. EzFill’s current focus is on expanding its geographic footprint. We aim to open in new markets along the east coast in the future both organically and through acquisitions of existing companies in the space. We make our expansion decisions based off of research into optimal target markets where public transportation is less prevalent, leading to more residents owning cars and the areas where a demand for lifestyle improving technology is present. We also consider State/City/County regulations when assessing new areas to expand into. We are targeting high potential locations with the least regulations on mobile fuel delivery. EzFill currently has strategic partnerships with businesses across industries such as property management, parking solutions services, travel industry, delivery industry, transportation and logistics, marinas, and other diversified business sectors . By establishing these strategic business-to-business relationships, we are able to offer cost effective business solutions, whether through human resource departments as employee perks, optimization of efficiency for fleet companies, or tenant satisfaction by adding amenities. EzFill believes a strategic partnership with a major oil company will help with our expansion by enabling us to lower cost and attract a larger customer base by selling branded gasoline. However, there cannot be any assurance that EzFill will be able to obtain such a strategic partnership. The oil companies Exxon and Shell are both in the mobile fuel delivery space though investments in mobile fueling companies. Technology License Agreement On April 7, 2021, the Company entered into a Technology License Agreement with Fuel Butler LLC (“Licensor”), under which the Company licensed certain proprietary technology. Under the terms of the license, the Company issued 33,216 shares of its common stock to the Licensor upon signing. The Company also issued 41,520 shares to the Licensor in May 2021 upon the filing of a patent application related to the licensed technology. Upon completion of the Company’s IPO, 23,251 shares were issued to the Licensor. The Company will issue up to 91,344 additional shares to the Licensor upon the achievement of certain milestones. In addition, the Company has granted stock options for 66,432 shares at an exercise price of $3.76 per share that will become exercisable for three years after the end of the fiscal year in which certain sales levels are achieved using the licensed technology. The Company has the option for four years after the achievement of certain milestones to either acquire the technology or acquire the Licensor for the purchase price of 132,864 of its common shares. Until the Company exercises one of these options, it will share with the Licensor 50% of pre-revenue costs and 50% of the net revenue, as defined, from the use of the technology. Under the Technology Agreement, the Company licensed proprietary technology that it believed would enable the Company to expand its services to provide its fuel service in high density areas. Fuel Butler has delivered a purported notice of termination of the Technology Agreement based on certain alleged breaches arising from our failure to issue equity securities to Fuel Butler. The Company has been in communications with Fuel Butler regarding the termination of the Technology Agreement and continues to believe that the Company is in compliance with the Technology Agreement and that the Technology Agreement continues to be in force. While the Company contests Fuel Butler’s claims of breach and contends that in fact Fuel Butler is in breach, the Company has communicated to Fuel Butler that it wishes to terminate the Technology Agreement. The Company has sent a proposal to Fuel Butler whereby it would cease utilizing the Technology and Fuel Butler would return any shares it received under the Technology Agreement. Accordingly, the Company considers the license to be fully impaired and has fully amortized the license as of December 31, 2022 . 8 Competition EzFill is a mobile fuel delivery service and competes with other local fuel delivery companies and gas stations. We differentiate ourselves by allowing our customers to request our service via a mobile app and delivering the fuel directly to the end user. We use our innovative technology and excellent concierge service to offer convenient fueling solutions to all our vertical markets at different times of the day to maximize the efficiency of each mobile fueling truck. To our knowledge, there are no significant mobile fueling competitors in the markets we currently serve. We distinguish ourselves from our competitors by: ● Prioritizing our customer’s experience and satisfaction; ● Streamlining our customers ordering experience; ● Rigorously vetting and training our drivers; ● Providing the latest in scheduling, GPS technology, and payment systems; ● Offering competitive pricing in the zip codes which we service; ● Providing all our customers with certified, accurate reports and detailed invoices. Though the electric vehicle industry is growing, we do not consider this relatively new subsegment of the vehicle market a threat to our business model or growth trajectory. The vast majority of vehicles are gas or diesel powered and the entire fuel industry is a major component of the economy. According to way.com 6% of the vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2022 were electric vehicles. However, with the planned acquisition of NextNRG, EzFill hopes to be prepared for the electric future. Additionally, the continued growth of the electric vehicle industry means more and more traditional gas stations are closing because of: (i) high overhead because of rising real-estate prices; (ii) lack of demand due to electric vehicle adoption; and (iii) their inability to fuel vehicles outside of their station. Our mobile fueling solution allows us to service many zip codes with one truck, so if sales slowdown in one area we are able to transition seamlessly to areas with higher demand. The NextNRG Acquisition and Perceived Impact on EzFill The Company into an exchange agreement dated as of August 10, 2023, as amended by the amended and restated exchange agreement dated November 2, 2023 (the “Exchange Agreement”) with the members (“Members”) of Next Charging LLC (now known as NextNRG Holding Corp. and referred to as “NextNRG”), and Michael D. Farkas, as the representative of the Members (“Members’ Representative”), with respect to the acquisition of 100% of the membership interest of the Members in NextNRG Charging (“Membership Interests”). In exchange for the acquisition of the Membership Interests by the Company, the Exchange Agreement contemplates issuance of 100,000,000 shares of Common Stock of the Company (“Exchange Shares”), to the Members. The holders of a majority of the Company’s common stock approved the NextNRG transaction. However, the closing of the transaction is subject to various closing conditions and there cannot be any assurance that the transaction will close. The NextNRG transaction discussed below, while approved by our shareholders and management, has not closed yet. EzFill cannot tell you whether the deal will close with any certainty. The discussion below is theoretical and only applicable if the deal closes. Additionally, even if the deal closes, EzFill cannot tell you with any certainty that it will be able to properly integrate NextNRG, or that the integrated entities will be able to achieve the lofty milestones set forth in the transaction agreement, or that the achievement of any of the milestones will lead to the success of the combined entities. If the transaction closes, post transaction EzFill will continue normal operations and the below is expected to be added as additional lines of business. There will likely be a new organizational structure as a result of the requirement of the Exchange Agreement to appoint Mr. Farkas to our board of directors as Executive Chairman Description of NextNRG Holding Corp’s Business Overview, General Nature and Scope of NextNRG’s Business NextNRG (formerly Next Charging LLC) is a developmental stage company working on solutions in the renewable energy/wireless electric vehicle (“EV”) charging space. NextNRG has plans to develop and deploy smart microgrids coupled with renewable energy generation, battery storage and wireless EV charging solutions all over the United States, and eventually globally. NextNRG believes that its merger with the Company/ EzFill is a component in its business plan and acquisition strategy. EzFill has many fleet customers that are already beginning the transition to electric vehicles, and by offering wireless EV charging solutions NextNRG can assist these fleet owners with their transition to EV. 9 NextNRG LLC (“NextNRG”), a subsidiary of NextNRG, is a development stage company working on solutions in the renewable energy/wireless EV charging space. NextNRG’s solutions are expected to be supported by exclusive licenses to seven patented technologies developed by Florida International University (“FIU”) which it acquired from Stat-EI Inc. These technologies were tested on the largest smart grid dataset in the world. The patents target two different renewable energy industry sectors - smart microgrids/Virtual power plants (“VPP”), and wireless power transfer (“WPT”) technology, created to wirelessly charge EVs. The licenses purchased from SEI are exclusive and worldwide, and require milestone payments of $75,000 upon the achievement of $2.0 million in net revenues and an annual royalty payment of $50,000 in 2024, $60,000 in 2025 and $75,000 for each year thereafter (in the case of microgrid technologies) and $40,000 in 2024, $50,000 in 2025 and $60,000 for each year thereafter (in the case of the wireless charging technologies), subject to the receipt of change of control fee ($350,000 in the case of microgrid technologies and $300,000 in the case of the wireless charging technologies). The main drivers of renewable energy can be summarized in the following points: ● Increased global need for energy; ● Decreasing costs of renewable energy plants; ● Regulations aiming to decrease pollution from fossil fuel; ● Political will to use clean and sustainable energy sources; and ● Incentives and subsidies. NextNRG believes that through strategic deployment it should be able to build and operate clean energy systems on commercial properties, schools and municipal buildings. The electricity will help customers gain access to electricity where not otherwise available, reduce electricity bills, progress towards decarbonization targets and support resource management needs throughout their asset lifecycles. NextNRG expects its primary product offering will be entering into leases or easements with building or landowners and revenue contracts to sell the power generated by the solar energy system to those landowners, or various commercial, utility, municipal and community solar off-takers. In addition to the sale of clean power, NextNRG plans to address customer needs through wireless EV charging and energy storage offerings, and where applicable, the delivery of gasoline. The primary challenge that the renewable sources market faces is the uncertainty around energy generation. This problem leads to system supply/demand imbalances that can interrupt power and increase costs. The second challenge is the cost of building renewable energy microgrids. To address this challenge, NextNRG hopes to capitalize on government incentives currently available for the deployment of renewable energy solutions. NextNRG believes its offerings will provide multiple advantages to future customers relative to the status quo, such as: ● Lower electricity bills : Once established, this process should allow for solar energy credits to get directly applied to a customer’s utility bill, which should allow them to realize immediate savings. ● Increased accessibility of clean electricity : Through deployment of microgrid and solar solutions it believes it should be able to provide clean electricity to customers who otherwise would not have been able to construct on-site solar (e.g. apartment and condominium customers). This increases the total addressable market and enables energy security for all. ● Supporting clean energy ecosystem : Demand for clean sources of electricity is anticipated to only increase. NextNRG plans to support future customers in their continued transition to the clean energy ecosystem through its microgrid, solar and battery storage systems as well as wireless EV charging stations. It expects that its expansion of product offerings will allow it to support even more customers in this transition. In simple terms, a microgrid is a small-scale power grid that can operate independently or collaboratively with other small power grids. FIU’s technology is designed to mitigate risk of utilizing renewable energy, while maximizing energy output efficiencies. Microgrids serve as an effective platform for integrating distributed energy resources (“DERs”) and achieving optimal performance in reduced costs and emissions while bolstering the resilience of a city, a building, or rural communities’ electrification systems. Additionally, they achieve cost savings through peak shaving and selling excess power to offtakers. 10 Upon satisfaction of related license obligations, NextNRG will benefit from a license to four patented technologies which enable the creation of smart microgrids and virtual power plants (“VPP”). The algorithms used to secure the patents were developed with the support and research of Federal agencies and have been tested and proven on the infrastructure of the largest renewable energy company in the world. Certain of the above technologies are currently being utilized with approximately 6 million of a renewable energy company’s customers. The combined technologies are referred to as the Next Smart Microgrid and potential products based on these technologies are explained in more detail below The RenCast Predictor ● The RenCast predictor is an online tool which can be independently installed with current and new solar systems using an open API architecture. It can be deployed as a software as a service (“SaaS”) or on-premises depending on customer needs. The RenCast predictions are based on weather parameters coupled with past and future data. Its use of global data sources improves its output accuracy. RenCast uses ML based systems and methods to forecast renewable energy generation using weather station and sensor data ● The RenCast Predictor’s renewable energy generation forecast includes a 5-minute, 15-minute, 1-hour, or 7-day prediction with up to 93% accuracy. The system includes weather sensors and imaging cameras. Weather parameters include wind speed, wind direction, ambient temperature, precipitation, atmosphere turbidity, and translucency. The forecaster receives this data from a geo-satellite feed, estimates the cloud cover, and derives the cloud shading profile. The processor receives and uses aggregation data to forecast renewable energy generation. ● The RenCast Predictor uses the web service API to implement photovoltaic (“PV”)-generation forecasts into the algorithms (e.g., economic dispatch), enabling customers to accurately plan and manage renewable energy generation. Smart Microgrid Controller ● The Smart Microgrid Controller integrates and synthesizes systems and AI/ML from multiple power sources to create a comprehensive overview of which source the microgrid should be pulling its energy from. ● The Smart Microgrid Controller uniquely addresses customer needs to optimize renewable energy use. As smaller versions of main energy grids, microgrids can operate in grid-connected and “island” mode as needed. For example, when severe weather affects the energy grid, a microgrid can operate autonomously using its local energy sources to power buildings or facilities. It connects and disconnects from the grid through a grid-forming inverter, which performs black-starts to independently restart the grid. Using the Smart Microgrid Controller ensures that the customer is always using its best and most reliable source of energy. The Battery State of Charge (“SOC”) System ● The Battery SOC provides AI/ML systems to forecast SOC of the systems’ lithium-ion batteries. ● The system uses a multi-step forecasting process and experimentally obtained decreasing C-rate datasets and with ML to forecast the system batteries’ SOC. The multi-step approach combines at least one univariate technique with ML techniques to forecast first C-rate, voltage, current, and SOC percentage to the ML model and forecast the battery’s SOC using an optimizer and ML model. The parameters from a second C-rate are collected by the battery analyzer and can be stored on the machine-readable medium to train the ML model(s) before forecasting. The forecasted battery SOC can be displayed in operable communication with the processor, the machine-readable medium, and the battery analyzer. This enables the customer to always be informed on the stored energy and health of each battery in the system. Battery storage is vital. It supports integrating and expanding renewable energy sources, such as solar power, while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Storing excess energy generated during periods of high renewable generation (sunny or windy) helps mitigate the reliability issues associated with renewable power sources. This equipment can dramatically improve electrification in rural areas, on tribal lands, and in low-income communities in-need of clean, reliable power. Battery energy storage systems provide a versatile and scalable solution for energy storage and power management, load management, backup power, and improved power quality. 11 The Portable Emergency AC Energy (“PEACE”) Controller ● The Peace Controller is a smaller version of the smart microgrid that uses the same AI/ML technologies to provide a mobile source of renewable power in the case of local energy interruption. The controller’s short-term goal is to provide uninterrupted clean energy to consumers during and after natural disasters to power emergency appliances, and for daily use to reduce the energy costs. Long-term the controllers can be scaled up as medium-to-large scale power hubs to provide grid services and network resilience. ● During power outages the PEACE supplier serves as a mobile power source for users with PV and/or energy storage systems. PEACE can also provide power when users do not have sufficient solar energy for their needs. The supplier includes an inverter to create seamless three-way connection between a PV cell or system, an energy storage unit, and the power grid. Additionally, PEACE includes a web application that displays the location, battery SOC, power generation, local weather systems, and charts. The RenCast Predictor, the Smart Microgrid Controller, Battery SOC, and PEACE Controller can be combined to turn a renewable energy microgrid into a “smart” system that uses AI/ML to increase the system’s efficiencies by up to 10%. NextNRG’s smart microgrid solution aggregates accurate estimates of future energy generation and SOC and programs the Smart Microgrid Controller to optimize the energy use based on the customer’s needs. HOPES Controller (“VPP”) ● The HOPES controller is still under development. ● The HOPES controller will allow microgrids in different locations to communicate and control to facilitate VPP applications and provide a VPP concept for grid-connected renewable energy sources. ● The software component will include predictive and prescriptive computation models to address and mitigate the concerns facing high-penetration scenarios into the grid. The controller allows consumers to integrate novel computational tools for state-of-the-art renewable energy generation forecasting, wide-area aggregation, optimize dynamic renewable hosting capacity, intelligently synchronize devices, and dispatch on-demand. The HOPES Controller will integrate and manage small-to-large-scale renewable energy solutions across smart grids. Additionally it will integrate renewable energies to the grid. The HOPES controller connects individual plants to build a VPP that transfers energy between locations connected through transmission lines based on availability and demand to improve the overall system resiliency. The HOPES Controller will be able to: ● Conduct short-term forecasting of the power generated by the renewable energy power plant. ● Execute a dispatch for bulk energy transfer using a hybrid energy storage module to minimize renewable energy curtailment and increase the renewable energy hosting capacity. ● Predict renewable energy generation intermittencies with wide-area aggregation using a wavelet theory-based transformation model and cooperative game theoretic modeling. ● Conduct predictive smart load control to effectively use renewable energy and hybrid energy modules to address critical and deferrable loads and minimize system instabilities. ● Support functionalities for energy pricing and economics of the grid-connected renewable energy to ensure feasibility of intelligence and visibility of renewable energy. ● Work with utility-level applications like distributed energy resource management systems and advanced distribution management systems to optimize existing renewable energy power plants. The first deployments of the NextNRG Smart Microgrid are expected to be on tribal land in the United States. The reason NextNRG is targeting tribal land is because, in 2022, the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Indian Energy issued a report citing that nearly 17,000 tribal homes were without electricity, with most being in southwestern states and in Alaska. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Mr. Bryan Newland testified before Congress that 1 in 5 homes on the Navajo Nation and more than one-third of homes on the neighboring Hopi reservation are without electricity. Our goal is to work with the Native American Tribes to reduce this number to zero 12 At each location where the NextNRG Smart Microgrid is deployed, NextNRG plans to evaluate the possibility of deploying NextNRG’s wireless EV charging solutions. These solutions are explained in more detail below. EV wireless charging offers several benefits: ● By definition, the number one benefit of wireless EV charging is that there are no wires. EV owners do not need to carry heavy charging cables or plug their cars in at every charging station, alleviating range anxiety. ● EV charging cables can become damaged over time, particularly in extreme heat and cold areas, which can be hazardous to the vehicle and its owner. No wires mean less risk, and replacing cables is expensive, too. ● Wireless charging is simply more convenient, even when only available as static charging – and if and when dynamic charging becomes a reality, it will be extremely convenient as well. NextNRG’s primary patent covers an electric vehicle charging station, designed as a bumper, that ensures proper alignment between the vehicle’s battery charger and the charger pad in the charging station. ● Integrated sensors detect the vehicle’s position as it parks. ● A built-in radio frequency receiver identifies the vehicle through a unique code. ● Once the system verifies payment with a server, an internal processor activates wireless, inductive charging. ● The entire setup offers a seamless integration of sleek design, precise vehicle detection, and secure payment verification for efficient charging. ● NextNRG’s parking bumper patent is the integration of a networked wireless charging bumper with a contactless payment system, and advanced communication protocols and encryption methods. ● NextNRG is in the process of purchasing the exclusive license for three patents in the wireless power transfer (“WPT”) space - two for the static transfer of energy and one for the dynamic transfer of energy: The licensed WPT solutions are based on a unique analog architecture. The static solution also provides a bi-direction (grid to vehicle and vehicle to grid) power transfer which allows a charged EV to serve as a reserve generator for the home in case of power failure. To date, NextNRG’s static and dynamic solutions have been designed and prototypes are being tested at 25 kwh of output in a laboratory environment at FIU. NextNRG expects for this static WPT solution to automate EV charging such that drivers do not need to do anything to charge. There are no cables inside or outside of the car. NextNRG expects for its dynamic WPT solution to be implemented on highways and public roads so it can provide essentially unlimited range for EVs without plugging-in or stopping for recharging. These solutions will revolutionize the future of transportation systems. NextNRG is working with FIU to deploy the dynamic WPT solution as a pilot for use on their campus and demonstrate its capabilities. NextNRG’s solutions are not expected to be affected by rain, snow, ice, dust, or dirt. They will be a clean and safe way to charge EVs. NextNRG expect that its bidirectional WPT systems will support connecting grid-to-vehicle (“G2V”) and vehicle-to-grid (“V2G”). It also plans for its systems to be able to integrate with the grid to help create a resilient network to handle disaster conditions. For example, during a hurricane in areas with power outages, EVs with V2G capability would be able to power hospitals, homes, and other critical infrastructure to create a reliable, longer lasting energy source. NextNRG believes that it is positioning itself to be able to offer a combination of: (i) wireless charging outputs from 25kwh; (ii) bi-directional wireless charging; and (iii) both static and dynamic wireless EV charging. The microgrid, solar, and EV Charging markets in the U.S. have been growing steadily with the presence of key players engaged in research and development to increase efficiency and decrease the cost of the components. NextNRG believes the confluence of multiple clean energy trends creates a significant market opportunity. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”), the U.S. spends $400 billion on electricity each year, of which $200 billion is spent on C&I. An additional $98 billion of investment will be required to meet the country’s 2030 sustainability goals. Renewable energy microgrids have proven an effective tool to help communities respond to natural disasters, and support countries who depend on foreign oil supplies. It may be necessary to rapidly increase the scale and scope of renewable generation assets in the U.S. in order to meet the various targets and commitments set by corporations and governments. 13 Agreements and Collaborations License Agreement with Florida International University NextNRG has purchased has exclusive licenses to a portfolio of seven patents owned by FIU. NextNRG is be obligated to pay fixed royalty payments for the licenses to FIU on an annual basis. The terms of the licenses shall continue for the life of the patents or until terminated by either party, pursuant to the terms of the licenses. NextNRG will also have certain performance obligations pursuant to the terms of the licenses. Intellectual Property NextNRG is the owner of US Patent No. 10,836,269 B2 which is a patent for an inductive charging parking bumper with automatic payment processing. NextNRG’s licenses from FIU relate to the following U.S. patents covering wireless electric vehicle charging: US Patents Numbered: 10637294; 9919610; and 9731614. NextNRG’s licenses from FIU relate to the following U.S. patents covering smart microgrid technology: US Patents Numbered: 10326280; 10969436; 10958211; and 11022720. NextNRG has also filed trademark applications for “NextCharge,” “Next Charge,” “Next Charging,” “NextCharging,” “NextNRG,” “NextNRG,” and the Next logo. NextNRG owns the domain names: NextCharging.com and NextNRG.com Regulatory Although NextNRG is not regulated as a public utility in the United States under applicable national, state or other local regulatory regimes where it conducts business, it expects to compete primarily with regulated utilities. As a result, it has developed and is committed to maintaining a policy team to focus on the key regulatory and legislative issues impacting the entire industry. It believes these efforts help it better navigate local markets through relationships with key stakeholders and facilitate a deep understanding of the national and regional policy environment. To operate its systems, NextNRG will need to obtain interconnection permission from the applicable local primary electric utility. Depending on the size of the solar energy system and local law requirements, interconnection permission will be provided by the local utility directly to NextNRG and/or future customers. In almost all cases, interconnection permissions are issued on the basis of a standard process that has been pre-approved by the local public utility commission or other regulatory body with jurisdiction over net metering policies. As such, no additional regulatory approvals are required once interconnection permission is given. NextNRG’s future operations will be subject to stringent and complex federal, state and local laws, including regulations governing the occupational health and safety of our employees and wage regulations. For example, it is subject to the requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, as amended (“OSH Act”), and comparable state laws that protect and regulate employee health and safety. NextNRG endeavors to maintain compliance with applicable OSH Act and other comparable government regulations. Government Incentives Federal, state and local government bodies provide incentives to owners, distributors, system integrators and manufacturers of solar energy systems to promote solar energy in the form of rebates, tax credits, payments for renewable energy credits (“RECs”) associated with renewable energy generation and exclusion of solar energy systems from property tax assessments. These incentives should enable NextNRG to lower the price it will charge future customers for energy from, and to lease, solar energy systems, helping to catalyze customer acceptance of solar energy as an alternative to utility-provided power. In addition, for some investors, the acceleration of depreciation creates a valuable tax benefit that reduces the overall cost of the solar energy system and increases the return on investment 14 The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”), which was passed in August 2022, substantially changed and expanded existing federal tax benefits for renewable energy. The IRA extended the existing framework for investment tax credits (“ITC”) offered by the federal government under Section 48(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) for the installation of certain solar power facilities owned for business purposes. Prior to the IRA, if construction on the facility began before January 1, 2020, the amount of the ITC available was 30%, if construction began during 2020, 2021, or 2022 the amount of the ITC available was 26%, with additional step downs in later years. Projects placed in service before January 1, 2022 are still set at 26%. However, with the enactment of the IRA, solar power facilities installed between 2022 and 2032 will receive a 30% ITC of the cost of installed equipment for ten years so long as the facilities meet wage and apprenticeship requirements or are less than 1 MWac, which will decrease to 26% for solar power facilities installed in 2033 and to 22% for solar power facilities installed in 2034; and for those solar power facilities installed in 2022, the ITC has increased from 22% to 30% if the ITC has not yet been claimed. The prevailing wage rates also must be paid for alteration and repair during the 5 years after a project is placed in service. Pursuant to the IRA, certain ITC projects are eligible for a 10% domestic content bonus so long as the facilities meet wage and apprenticeship requirements, if all the steel and iron are produced in the United States and at least 40% of the facility is produced in the United States, which domestic content percentage requirement increases for facilities that start construction after 2024 and eventually reach 55% for projects which begin construction in 2027 or later. Pursuant to the IRA, certain ITC projects are eligible for an additional 10% or 20% energy community bonus so long as the facilities meet wage and apprenticeship requirements, and if the facility owner applies for and receives an environmental justice allocation from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). Solar (and certain related storage) facilities that are less than 5 MWac that are either located in a low-income community or on Indian land, or are part of a qualified low-income residential building project or a qualified low-income economic benefit project qualify. For example, qualified low-income economic benefit projects can receive a 20% bonus if low-income households receive at least one-half of the financial benefits. The IRS provided taxpayers guidance in Notice 2023-18 for determining the requirements for allocation of the ITC bonus. The IRA also included additional incentives, including in relation to stand-alone storage and claiming interconnection costs under the ITC in certain situations. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act has secured historic levels of funding specifically for Tribal Nations and Native communities, including $32 billion in the American Rescue Plan, $13 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and more than $720 million in the IRA. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Energy for Low Income Communities Accelerator partnered with state and local leaders that committed $335 million to help 155,000 low-income households access renewable energy and efficiency to save up to 30% or more on energy bills. In addition to the incentives at the federal government, more than half of the states, and many local jurisdictions, have established property tax incentives for renewable energy systems that include exemptions, exclusions, abatements and credits. Approximately thirty states and the District of Columbia have adopted a renewable portfolio standard (and approximately eight other states have some voluntary goal) that requires regulated utilities to procure a specified percentage of total electricity delivered in the state from eligible renewable energy sources, such as solar energy systems, by a specified date. To prove compliance with such mandates, utilities must surrender solar renewable energy credits (“SRECs”) to the applicable authority. Solar energy system owners such as our investment funds often are able to sell SRECs to utilities directly or in SREC markets. While there are numerous federal, state and local government incentives that benefit our business, some adverse interpretations or determinations of new and existing laws can have a negative impact on NextNRG’s business. Manufacturing and Supply NextNRG plans to purchase equipment, including solar panels, inverters, batteries, wireless charging station components from a variety of manufacturers and suppliers. If one or more of the suppliers and manufacturers that NextNRG relies upon to meet anticipated demand reduces or ceases production, it may be difficult to quickly identify and qualify alternatives on acceptable terms. In addition, equipment prices may increase in the coming years, or not decrease at the rates it has historically experienced, due to tariffs or other factors. Eventually, NextNRG believes it will be manufacturing some, if not all, of its products in-house. 15 Government Regulation Our industry has certain government regulations, EzFill is dedicated to ensure that we are always operating in a way that is in compliance with all applicable regulations. 1. DOT/Hazmat Registration : We are required to be registered with the Department of Transportation to transport and dispense hazardous materials. EzFill as a company is registered to transport and dispense hazardous material. 2. Weights and Measures : In order to ensure the accuracy of our fuel sales to customers, our fuel meters and registers have to be calibrated and certified by the Florida Department of Agriculture. EzFill’s fuel meters and registers have been calibrated and certified by the Department of Agriculture to be a fuel retailer. 3. CDL Licensing with Hazmat Endorsement : Drivers are required to have a Commercial Driver’s License with a Hazmat endorsement in order to operate the Mobile Fueling Trucks. All of our drivers have their Commercial Driver’s License with the Hazmat endorsement. Our operations may also be subject to local fire marshal regulations, which varies in the different cities and counties. EzFill keeps up to date on the local regulations in each of the locations it operates and does ample research into local regulations before opening in any new location. The costs of compliance includes general liability insurance, workers’ comp. insurance, vehicle insurance, meters and registers maintenance for yearly inspection, vehicle maintenance for yearly inspection, hazmat permits and licensing, safety procedures and equipment, emergency response team, and live safety monitoring system. Our safety protocol includes: ● Training ● Management oversight ● Live tracking 24-7 ● Safety spill kits ● Automatic pump shut off system ● 24-7 800# support line We have implemented a safety protocol and monitoring system that allows us to operate at maximum efficiency in optimal safety conditions. Our drivers carry the proper commercial driver’s licenses and endorsements and are fully trained and certified to transport and dispense fuel. We have been licensed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and our fueling trucks have been fitted with safety equipment and emergency tools such as spill kits, fire extinguishers, emergency response handbook and a dedicated 24/7 emergency responder support team in the event of emergency situations. We have management oversight around the clock to ensure safe operations. We have an emergency response team on call, in the unlikely situation where there is a spill, the emergency response team will come to the scene to control and properly handle the clean up of any hazardous materials. We also have state of the art technology that enables us, in real-time, to track the location of our Mobile Fueling Trucks and the inventory levels of each Mobile Fueling Truck. Corporate Information EzFill FL, LLC was established on July 27, 2016 in the state of Florida. The assets of EzFill, LLC were acquired as of April 9, 2019 by EzFill, Holdings Inc. (formed in March of 2019) which purchased certain assets of EzFill FL LLC’s mobile fueling business. The business is headquartered in South Florida. 16 Our principal executive offices are located at 67 NW 183 rd Street, Miami, FL 33169, and our telephone number is 305-791-1169. Our website address is ezfl.com. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Ezfl.com, EzFill, and other trade names, trademarks, or service marks of EzFill appearing in this Annual Report are the property of EzFill. Trade names, trademarks, and service marks of other companies appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective holders. Human Capital Resources As of April 1, 2024, we had a total of approximately 54 employees, all of whom were full-time. None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and we consider our relations with our employees to be good. Properties We lase office space at 2999 NE 191 st Street, Aventura, FL 33180 and pay approximately $21,800 per month, including operating expenses and taxes, we currently sublet this property at a rate of $16,000 per month. We lease our current office space at 67 NW 183 rd Street and pay $6,955 per month. Additionally, we have office space and parking for our trucks at our fuel supplier located at 2965 E. 11 th Ave., Hialeah, FL 33013. We also have access to parking for our trucks at various locations of Palmdale Oil Company in Florida. We believe our current office space is sufficient to meet our needs. Legal Proceedings From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in matters may arise from time to time that may harm our business. As of the date of this Annual Report, management believes that there are no claims against us, which it believes will result in a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition.