diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/annotations_impl/annotations.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/annotations_impl/annotations.ts
index 3501d3f23a..7e32907cc8 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/annotations_impl/annotations.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/annotations_impl/annotations.ts
@@ -746,9 +746,35 @@ export class Directive extends Injectable {
    */
   hostInjector: List<any>;
 
+  /**
+   * Defines the name that can be used in the template to assign this directive to a variable.
+   *
+   * ## Simple Example
+   *
+   * @Directive({
+   *   selector: 'child-dir',
+   *   exportAs: 'child'
+   * })
+   * class ChildDir {
+   * }
+   *
+   * @Component({
+   *   selector: 'main',
+   * })
+   * @View({
+   *   template: `<child-dir #c="child"></child-dir>`,
+   *   directives: [ChildDir]
+   * })
+   * class MainComponent {
+   * }
+   *
+   * ```
+   */
+  exportAs: string;
+
   constructor({
                   selector, properties, events, hostListeners, hostProperties, hostAttributes,
-                  hostActions, lifecycle, hostInjector, compileChildren = true,
+                  hostActions, lifecycle, hostInjector, exportAs, compileChildren = true,
               }: {
     selector?: string,
     properties?: List<string>,
@@ -759,6 +785,7 @@ export class Directive extends Injectable {
     hostActions?: StringMap<string, string>,
     lifecycle?: List<LifecycleEvent>,
     hostInjector?: List<any>,
+    exportAs?: string,
     compileChildren?: boolean
   } = {}) {
     super();
@@ -769,6 +796,7 @@ export class Directive extends Injectable {
     this.hostProperties = hostProperties;
     this.hostAttributes = hostAttributes;
     this.hostActions = hostActions;
+    this.exportAs = exportAs;
     this.lifecycle = lifecycle;
     this.compileChildren = compileChildren;
     this.hostInjector = hostInjector;
@@ -973,7 +1001,7 @@ export class Component extends Directive {
   viewInjector: List<any>;
 
   constructor({selector, properties, events, hostListeners, hostProperties, hostAttributes,
-               hostActions, appInjector, lifecycle, hostInjector, viewInjector,
+               hostActions, exportAs, appInjector, lifecycle, hostInjector, viewInjector,
                changeDetection = DEFAULT, compileChildren = true}: {
     selector?: string,
     properties?: List<string>,
@@ -982,6 +1010,7 @@ export class Component extends Directive {
     hostProperties?: StringMap<string, string>,
     hostAttributes?: StringMap<string, string>,
     hostActions?: StringMap<string, string>,
+    exportAs?: string,
     appInjector?: List<any>,
     lifecycle?: List<LifecycleEvent>,
     hostInjector?: List<any>,
@@ -997,6 +1026,7 @@ export class Component extends Directive {
       hostProperties: hostProperties,
       hostAttributes: hostAttributes,
       hostActions: hostActions,
+      exportAs: exportAs,
       hostInjector: hostInjector,
       lifecycle: lifecycle,
       compileChildren: compileChildren
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_binder.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_binder.ts
index 7038d39554..9e629de41a 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_binder.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_binder.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@ import * as viewModule from './view';
 export class ElementBinder {
   nestedProtoView: viewModule.AppProtoView;
   hostListeners: StringMap<string, Map<number, AST>>;
+
   constructor(public index: int, public parent: ElementBinder, public distanceToParent: int,
               public protoElementInjector: eiModule.ProtoElementInjector,
+              public directiveVariableBindings: Map<string, number>,
               public componentDirective: DirectiveBinding) {
     if (isBlank(index)) {
       throw new BaseException('null index not allowed.');
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_injector.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_injector.ts
index 791a8d8f18..1ddc95dcc8 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_injector.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/element_injector.ts
@@ -317,7 +317,9 @@ export class DirectiveBinding extends ResolvedBinding {
       callOnAllChangesDone: hasLifecycleHook(onAllChangesDone, rb.key.token, ann),
 
       changeDetection: ann instanceof
-          Component ? ann.changeDetection : null
+          Component ? ann.changeDetection : null,
+
+      exportAs: ann.exportAs
     });
     return new DirectiveBinding(rb.key, rb.factory, deps, rb.providedAsPromise,
                                 resolvedAppInjectables, resolvedHostInjectables,
@@ -422,15 +424,6 @@ export class ProtoElementInjector {
   eventEmitterAccessors: List<List<EventEmitterAccessor>>;
   hostActionAccessors: List<List<HostActionAccessor>>;
 
-  /** Whether the element is exported as $implicit. */
-  exportElement: boolean;
-
-  /** Whether the component instance is exported as $implicit. */
-  exportComponent: boolean;
-
-  /** The variable name that will be set to $implicit for the element. */
-  exportImplicitName: string;
-
   _strategy: _ProtoElementInjectorStrategy;
 
   static create(parent: ProtoElementInjector, index: number, bindings: List<ResolvedBinding>,
@@ -483,9 +476,6 @@ export class ProtoElementInjector {
 
   constructor(public parent: ProtoElementInjector, public index: int, bd: List<BindingData>,
               public distanceToParent: number, public _firstBindingIsComponent: boolean) {
-    this.exportComponent = false;
-    this.exportElement = false;
-
     var length = bd.length;
     this.eventEmitterAccessors = ListWrapper.createFixedSize(length);
     this.hostActionAccessors = ListWrapper.createFixedSize(length);
@@ -1164,15 +1154,6 @@ export class ElementInjector extends TreeNode<ElementInjector> {
 
   hasInstances(): boolean { return this._constructionCounter > 0; }
 
-  /** Gets whether this element is exporting a component instance as $implicit. */
-  isExportingComponent(): boolean { return this._proto.exportComponent; }
-
-  /** Gets whether this element is exporting its element as $implicit. */
-  isExportingElement(): boolean { return this._proto.exportElement; }
-
-  /** Get the name to which this element's $implicit is to be assigned. */
-  getExportImplicitName(): string { return this._proto.exportImplicitName; }
-
   getLightDomAppInjector(): Injector { return this._lightDomAppInjector; }
 
   getShadowDomAppInjector(): Injector { return this._shadowDomAppInjector; }
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/proto_view_factory.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/proto_view_factory.ts
index 5a35a7c71f..b55cb69a76 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/proto_view_factory.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/proto_view_factory.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import {Injectable} from 'angular2/di';
 
 import {List, ListWrapper, MapWrapper} from 'angular2/src/facade/collection';
-import {isPresent, isBlank} from 'angular2/src/facade/lang';
+import {isPresent, isBlank, BaseException} from 'angular2/src/facade/lang';
 import {reflector} from 'angular2/src/reflection/reflection';
 
 import {
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ function _createElementBinders(protoView, elementBinders, allDirectiveBindings)
                                     componentDirectiveBinding, directiveBindings);
 
     _createElementBinder(protoView, i, renderElementBinder, protoElementInjector,
-                         componentDirectiveBinding);
+                         componentDirectiveBinding, directiveBindings);
   }
 }
 
@@ -343,28 +343,20 @@ function _createProtoElementInjector(binderIndex, parentPeiWithDistance, renderE
         parentPeiWithDistance.protoElementInjector, binderIndex, directiveBindings,
         isPresent(componentDirectiveBinding), parentPeiWithDistance.distance);
     protoElementInjector.attributes = renderElementBinder.readAttributes;
-    if (hasVariables) {
-      protoElementInjector.exportComponent = isPresent(componentDirectiveBinding);
-      protoElementInjector.exportElement = isBlank(componentDirectiveBinding);
-
-      // experiment
-      var exportImplicitName = MapWrapper.get(renderElementBinder.variableBindings, '\$implicit');
-      if (isPresent(exportImplicitName)) {
-        protoElementInjector.exportImplicitName = exportImplicitName;
-      }
-    }
   }
   return protoElementInjector;
 }
 
 function _createElementBinder(protoView, boundElementIndex, renderElementBinder,
-                              protoElementInjector, componentDirectiveBinding): ElementBinder {
+                              protoElementInjector, componentDirectiveBinding, directiveBindings): ElementBinder {
   var parent = null;
   if (renderElementBinder.parentIndex !== -1) {
     parent = protoView.elementBinders[renderElementBinder.parentIndex];
   }
+
+  var directiveVariableBindings = createDirectiveVariableBindings(renderElementBinder, directiveBindings);
   var elBinder = protoView.bindElement(parent, renderElementBinder.distanceToParent,
-                                       protoElementInjector, componentDirectiveBinding);
+                                       protoElementInjector, directiveVariableBindings, componentDirectiveBinding);
   protoView.bindEvent(renderElementBinder.eventBindings, boundElementIndex, -1);
   // variables
   // The view's locals needs to have a full set of variable names at construction time
@@ -377,6 +369,49 @@ function _createElementBinder(protoView, boundElementIndex, renderElementBinder,
   return elBinder;
 }
 
+export function createDirectiveVariableBindings(renderElementBinder:renderApi.ElementBinder,
+                                         directiveBindings:List<DirectiveBinding>): Map<String, number> {
+  var directiveVariableBindings = MapWrapper.create();
+  MapWrapper.forEach(renderElementBinder.variableBindings, (templateName, exportAs) => {
+    var dirIndex = _findDirectiveIndexByExportAs(renderElementBinder, directiveBindings, exportAs);
+    MapWrapper.set(directiveVariableBindings, templateName, dirIndex);
+  });
+  return directiveVariableBindings;
+}
+
+function _findDirectiveIndexByExportAs(renderElementBinder, directiveBindings, exportAs) {
+  var matchedDirectiveIndex = null;
+  var matchedDirective;
+
+  for (var i = 0; i < directiveBindings.length; ++i) {
+    var directive = directiveBindings[i];
+
+    if (_directiveExportAs(directive) == exportAs) {
+      if (isPresent(matchedDirective)) {
+        throw new BaseException(`More than one directive have exportAs = '${exportAs}'. Directives: [${matchedDirective.displayName}, ${directive.displayName}]`);
+      }
+
+      matchedDirectiveIndex = i;
+      matchedDirective = directive;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (isBlank(matchedDirective) && exportAs !== "$implicit") {
+    throw new BaseException(`Cannot find directive with exportAs = '${exportAs}'`);
+  }
+
+  return matchedDirectiveIndex;
+}
+
+function _directiveExportAs(directive):string {
+  var directiveExportAs = directive.metadata.exportAs;
+  if (isBlank(directiveExportAs) && directive.metadata.type === renderApi.DirectiveMetadata.COMPONENT_TYPE) {
+    return "$implicit";
+  } else {
+    return directiveExportAs;
+  }
+}
+
 function _bindDirectiveEvents(protoView, elementBinders: List<renderApi.ElementBinder>) {
   for (var boundElementIndex = 0; boundElementIndex < elementBinders.length; ++boundElementIndex) {
     var dirs = elementBinders[boundElementIndex].directives;
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view.ts
index fa55fc336b..2b383f40ed 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view.ts
@@ -183,9 +183,12 @@ export class AppProtoView {
 
   bindElement(parent: ElementBinder, distanceToParent: int,
               protoElementInjector: ProtoElementInjector,
+              directiveVariableBindings: Map<string, number>,
               componentDirective: DirectiveBinding = null): ElementBinder {
-    var elBinder = new ElementBinder(this.elementBinders.length, parent, distanceToParent,
-                                     protoElementInjector, componentDirective);
+    var elBinder =
+        new ElementBinder(this.elementBinders.length, parent, distanceToParent,
+                          protoElementInjector, directiveVariableBindings, componentDirective);
+
     ListWrapper.push(this.elementBinders, elBinder);
     return elBinder;
   }
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view_manager_utils.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view_manager_utils.ts
index a070263073..46cf5720f0 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view_manager_utils.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/compiler/view_manager_utils.ts
@@ -206,20 +206,22 @@ export class AppViewManagerUtils {
 
     var binders = view.proto.elementBinders;
     for (var i = 0; i < binders.length; ++i) {
+      var binder = binders[i];
       var elementInjector = view.elementInjectors[i];
+
       if (isPresent(elementInjector)) {
         elementInjector.hydrate(appInjector, hostElementInjector, view.preBuiltObjects[i]);
         this._setUpEventEmitters(view, elementInjector, i);
         this._setUpHostActions(view, elementInjector, i);
 
-        // The exporting of $implicit is a special case. Since multiple elements will all export
-        // the different values as $implicit, directly assign $implicit bindings to the variable
-        // name.
-        var exportImplicitName = elementInjector.getExportImplicitName();
-        if (elementInjector.isExportingComponent()) {
-          view.locals.set(exportImplicitName, elementInjector.getComponent());
-        } else if (elementInjector.isExportingElement()) {
-          view.locals.set(exportImplicitName, elementInjector.getElementRef().domElement);
+        if (isPresent(binder.directiveVariableBindings)) {
+          MapWrapper.forEach(binder.directiveVariableBindings, (directiveIndex, name) => {
+            if (isBlank(directiveIndex)) {
+              view.locals.set(name, elementInjector.getElementRef().domElement);
+            } else {
+              view.locals.set(name, elementInjector.getDirectiveAtIndex(directiveIndex));
+            }
+          });
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/render/api.ts b/modules/angular2/src/render/api.ts
index 3abf9ac063..4b8e0f6b1d 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/render/api.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/render/api.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export class ElementBinder {
   directives: List<DirectiveBinder>;
   nestedProtoView: ProtoViewDto;
   propertyBindings: Map<string, ASTWithSource>;
-  variableBindings: Map<string, ASTWithSource>;
+  variableBindings: Map<string, string>;
   // Note: this contains a preprocessed AST
   // that replaced the values that should be extracted from the element
   // with a local name
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ export class ElementBinder {
     directives?: List<DirectiveBinder>,
     nestedProtoView?: ProtoViewDto,
     propertyBindings?: Map<string, ASTWithSource>,
-    variableBindings?: Map<string, ASTWithSource>,
+    variableBindings?: Map<string, string>,
     eventBindings?: List<EventBinding>,
     textBindings?: List<ASTWithSource>,
     readAttributes?: Map<string, string>
@@ -142,9 +142,10 @@ export class DirectiveMetadata {
   callOnInit: boolean;
   callOnAllChangesDone: boolean;
   changeDetection: string;
+  exportAs: string;
   constructor({id, selector, compileChildren, events, hostListeners, hostProperties, hostAttributes,
                hostActions, properties, readAttributes, type, callOnDestroy, callOnChange,
-               callOnCheck, callOnInit, callOnAllChangesDone, changeDetection}: {
+               callOnCheck, callOnInit, callOnAllChangesDone, changeDetection, exportAs}: {
     id?: string,
     selector?: string,
     compileChildren?: boolean,
@@ -161,7 +162,8 @@ export class DirectiveMetadata {
     callOnCheck?: boolean,
     callOnInit?: boolean,
     callOnAllChangesDone?: boolean,
-    changeDetection?: string
+    changeDetection?: string,
+    exportAs?: string
   }) {
     this.id = id;
     this.selector = selector;
@@ -180,6 +182,7 @@ export class DirectiveMetadata {
     this.callOnInit = callOnInit;
     this.callOnAllChangesDone = callOnAllChangesDone;
     this.changeDetection = changeDetection;
+    this.exportAs = exportAs;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/render/dom/convert.ts b/modules/angular2/src/render/dom/convert.ts
index 960274466a..87471dae23 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/render/dom/convert.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/render/dom/convert.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export function directiveMetadataToMap(meta: DirectiveMetadata): Map<string, any
     ['properties', _cloneIfPresent(meta.properties)],
     ['readAttributes', _cloneIfPresent(meta.readAttributes)],
     ['type', meta.type],
+    ['exportAs', meta.exportAs],
     ['callOnDestroy', meta.callOnDestroy],
     ['callOnCheck', meta.callOnCheck],
     ['callOnInit', meta.callOnInit],
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ export function directiveMetadataFromMap(map: Map<string, any>): DirectiveMetada
     properties:<List<string>>_cloneIfPresent(MapWrapper.get(map, 'properties')),
     readAttributes:<List<string>>_cloneIfPresent(MapWrapper.get(map, 'readAttributes')),
     type:<number>MapWrapper.get(map, 'type'),
+    exportAs:<string>MapWrapper.get(map, 'exportAs'),
     callOnDestroy:<boolean>MapWrapper.get(map, 'callOnDestroy'),
     callOnCheck:<boolean>MapWrapper.get(map, 'callOnCheck'),
     callOnChange:<boolean>MapWrapper.get(map, 'callOnChange'),
diff --git a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/compiler_spec.ts b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/compiler_spec.ts
index f68dacccc7..87e0c6e93d 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/compiler_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/compiler_spec.ts
@@ -420,11 +420,11 @@ function createProtoView(elementBinders = null) {
 
 function createComponentElementBinder(directiveResolver, type) {
   var binding = createDirectiveBinding(directiveResolver, type);
-  return new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, binding);
+  return new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null, binding);
 }
 
 function createViewportElementBinder(nestedProtoView) {
-  var elBinder = new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null);
+  var elBinder = new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null, null);
   elBinder.nestedProtoView = nestedProtoView;
   return elBinder;
 }
diff --git a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/integration_spec.ts b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/integration_spec.ts
index b1815230a5..4e6a78100d 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/integration_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/integration_spec.ts
@@ -422,110 +422,127 @@ export function main() {
                });
          }));
 
-      it('should assign the component instance to a var-',
-         inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
-           tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
-             template: '<p><child-cmp var-alice></child-cmp></p>',
-             directives: [ChildComp]
+      describe("variable bindings", () => {
+        it('should assign a component to a var-',
+           inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
+             tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
+               template: '<p><child-cmp var-alice></child-cmp></p>',
+               directives: [ChildComp]
+             }));
+
+             tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
+                 .then((view) => {
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
+
+                   async.done();
+                 })
            }));
 
-           tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
-               .then((view) => {
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
+        it('should assign a directive to a var-',
+           inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
+             tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
+               template: '<p><div [export-dir] #localdir="dir"></div></p>',
+               directives: [ExportDir]
+             }));
 
-                 async.done();
-               })
-         }));
+             tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
+                 .then((view) => {
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals.get('localdir')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ExportDir);
 
-      it('should make the assigned component accessible in property bindings',
-         inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
-           tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
-             template: '<p><child-cmp var-alice></child-cmp>{{alice.ctxProp}}</p>',
-             directives: [ChildComp]
+                   async.done();
+                 });
            }));
 
-           tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
-               .then((view) => {
-                 view.detectChanges();
+        it('should make the assigned component accessible in property bindings',
+           inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
+             tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
+               template: '<p><child-cmp var-alice></child-cmp>{{alice.ctxProp}}</p>',
+               directives: [ChildComp]
+             }));
 
-                 expect(view.rootNodes).toHaveText('hellohello');  // this first one is the
-                                                                   // component, the second one is
-                                                                   // the text binding
-                 async.done();
-               })
-         }));
+             tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
+                 .then((view) => {
+                   view.detectChanges();
 
-      it('should assign two component instances each with a var-',
-         inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
-           tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
-             template: '<p><child-cmp var-alice></child-cmp><child-cmp var-bob></p>',
-             directives: [ChildComp]
+                   expect(view.rootNodes).toHaveText('hellohello');  // this first one is the
+                                                                     // component, the second one is
+                                                                     // the text binding
+                   async.done();
+                 })
            }));
 
-           tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
-               .then((view) => {
+        it('should assign two component instances each with a var-',
+           inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
+             tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
+               template: '<p><child-cmp var-alice></child-cmp><child-cmp var-bob></p>',
+               directives: [ChildComp]
+             }));
 
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals.get('bob')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice')).not.toBe(view.rawView.locals.get('bob'));
+             tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
+                 .then((view) => {
 
-                 async.done();
-               })
-         }));
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals.get('bob')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice'))
+                       .not.toBe(view.rawView.locals.get('bob'));
 
-      it('should assign the component instance to a var- with shorthand syntax',
-         inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
-           tb.overrideView(
-               MyComp, new viewAnn.View(
-                           {template: '<child-cmp #alice></child-cmp>', directives: [ChildComp]}));
+                   async.done();
+                 })
+           }));
 
-           tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
-               .then((view) => {
+        it('should assign the component instance to a var- with shorthand syntax',
+           inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
+             tb.overrideView(
+                 MyComp,
+                 new viewAnn.View(
+                     {template: '<child-cmp #alice></child-cmp>', directives: [ChildComp]}));
 
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
+             tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
+                 .then((view) => {
 
-                 async.done();
-               })
-         }));
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals.get('alice')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
 
-      it('should assign the element instance to a user-defined variable',
-         inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
-           tb.overrideView(
-               MyComp, new viewAnn.View({template: '<p><div var-alice><i>Hello</i></div></p>'}));
+                   async.done();
+                 })
+           }));
 
-           tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
-               .then((view) => {
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
+        it('should assign the element instance to a user-defined variable',
+           inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
+             tb.overrideView(
+                 MyComp, new viewAnn.View({template: '<p><div var-alice><i>Hello</i></div></p>'}));
 
-                 var value = view.rawView.locals.get('alice');
-                 expect(value).not.toBe(null);
-                 expect(value.tagName.toLowerCase()).toEqual('div');
+             tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
+                 .then((view) => {
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
 
-                 async.done();
-               })
-         }));
+                   var value = view.rawView.locals.get('alice');
+                   expect(value).not.toBe(null);
+                   expect(value.tagName.toLowerCase()).toEqual('div');
 
+                   async.done();
+                 })
+           }));
 
-      it('should assign the element instance to a user-defined variable with camelCase using dash-case',
-         inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
-           tb.overrideView(
-               MyComp,
-               new viewAnn.View({template: '<p><div var-super-alice><i>Hello</i></div></p>'}));
+        it('should change dash-case to camel-case',
+           inject([TestBed, AsyncTestCompleter], (tb, async) => {
+             tb.overrideView(MyComp, new viewAnn.View({
+               template: '<p><child-cmp var-super-alice></child-cmp></p>',
+               directives: [ChildComp]
+             }));
 
-           tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
-               .then((view) => {
-                 expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
+             tb.createView(MyComp, {context: ctx})
+                 .then((view) => {
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals).not.toBe(null);
+                   expect(view.rawView.locals.get('superAlice')).toBeAnInstanceOf(ChildComp);
 
-                 var value = view.rawView.locals.get('superAlice');
-                 expect(value).not.toBe(null);
-                 expect(value.tagName.toLowerCase()).toEqual('div');
-
-                 async.done();
-               })
-         }));
+                   async.done();
+                 });
+           }));
+      });
 
       describe("ON_PUSH components", () => {
         it("should use ChangeDetectorRef to manually request a check",
@@ -1696,3 +1713,7 @@ class SomeImperativeViewport {
     }
   }
 }
+
+@Directive({selector: '[export-dir]', exportAs: 'dir'})
+class ExportDir {
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/proto_view_factory_spec.ts b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/proto_view_factory_spec.ts
index 71444f4dfc..31c55cdc70 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/proto_view_factory_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/proto_view_factory_spec.ts
@@ -20,9 +20,11 @@ import {MapWrapper} from 'angular2/src/facade/collection';
 import {ChangeDetection, ChangeDetectorDefinition} from 'angular2/change_detection';
 import {
   ProtoViewFactory,
-  getChangeDetectorDefinitions
+  getChangeDetectorDefinitions,
+  createDirectiveVariableBindings
 } from 'angular2/src/core/compiler/proto_view_factory';
 import {Component, Directive} from 'angular2/annotations';
+import {Key} from 'angular2/di';
 import {DirectiveResolver} from 'angular2/src/core/compiler/directive_resolver';
 import {DirectiveBinding} from 'angular2/src/core/compiler/element_injector';
 import * as renderApi from 'angular2/src/render/api';
@@ -65,12 +67,85 @@ export function main() {
         expect(pvs.length).toBe(1);
         expect(pvs[0].render).toBe(renderPv.render);
       });
-
     });
 
+    describe("createDirectiveVariableBindings", () => {
+      it("should calculate directive variable bindings", () => {
+        var dvbs = createDirectiveVariableBindings(
+            new renderApi.ElementBinder(
+                {variableBindings: MapWrapper.createFromStringMap({"exportName": "templateName"})}),
+            [
+              directiveBinding(
+                  {metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata({exportAs: 'exportName'})}),
+              directiveBinding(
+                  {metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata({exportAs: 'otherName'})})
+            ]);
+
+        expect(dvbs).toEqual(MapWrapper.createFromStringMap({"templateName": 0}));
+      });
+
+      it("should set exportAs to $implicit for component with exportAs = null", () => {
+        var dvbs = createDirectiveVariableBindings(
+            new renderApi.ElementBinder(
+                {variableBindings: MapWrapper.createFromStringMap({"$implicit": "templateName"})}),
+            [
+              directiveBinding({
+                metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata(
+                    {exportAs: null, type: renderApi.DirectiveMetadata.COMPONENT_TYPE})
+              })
+            ]);
+
+        expect(dvbs).toEqual(MapWrapper.createFromStringMap({"templateName": 0}));
+      });
+
+      it("should throw we no directive exported with this name", () => {
+        expect(() => {
+          createDirectiveVariableBindings(
+              new renderApi.ElementBinder({
+                variableBindings:
+                    MapWrapper.createFromStringMap({"someInvalidName": "templateName"})
+              }),
+              [
+                directiveBinding(
+                    {metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata({exportAs: 'exportName'})})
+              ]);
+        }).toThrowError(new RegExp("Cannot find directive with exportAs = 'someInvalidName'"));
+      });
+
+      it("should throw when binding to a name exported by two directives", () => {
+        expect(() => {
+          createDirectiveVariableBindings(
+              new renderApi.ElementBinder({
+                variableBindings: MapWrapper.createFromStringMap({"exportName": "templateName"})
+              }),
+              [
+                directiveBinding(
+                    {metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata({exportAs: 'exportName'})}),
+                directiveBinding(
+                    {metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata({exportAs: 'exportName'})})
+              ]);
+        }).toThrowError(new RegExp("More than one directive have exportAs = 'exportName'"));
+      });
+
+      it("should not throw when not binding to a name exported by two directives", () => {
+        expect(() => {
+          createDirectiveVariableBindings(
+              new renderApi.ElementBinder({variableBindings: MapWrapper.create()}), [
+                directiveBinding(
+                    {metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata({exportAs: 'exportName'})}),
+                directiveBinding(
+                    {metadata: new renderApi.DirectiveMetadata({exportAs: 'exportName'})})
+              ]);
+        }).not.toThrow();
+      });
+    });
   });
 }
 
+function directiveBinding({metadata}: {metadata?: any} = {}) {
+  return new DirectiveBinding(Key.get("dummy"), null, [], false, [], [], [], metadata);
+}
+
 function createRenderProtoView(elementBinders = null, type: number = null) {
   if (isBlank(type)) {
     type = renderApi.ProtoViewDto.COMPONENT_VIEW_TYPE;
diff --git a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_spec.ts b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_spec.ts
index b33a859eb7..d72b5f3a2a 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_spec.ts
@@ -58,11 +58,11 @@ export function main() {
       return DirectiveBinding.createFromType(type, annotation);
     }
 
-    function createEmptyElBinder() { return new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null); }
+    function createEmptyElBinder() { return new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null, null); }
 
     function createComponentElBinder(nestedProtoView = null) {
       var binding = createDirectiveBinding(SomeComponent);
-      var binder = new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, binding);
+      var binder = new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null, binding);
       binder.nestedProtoView = nestedProtoView;
       return binder;
     }
diff --git a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_utils_spec.ts b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_utils_spec.ts
index 318083e498..71de3793f8 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_utils_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/test/core/compiler/view_manager_utils_spec.ts
@@ -48,11 +48,11 @@ export function main() {
       return DirectiveBinding.createFromType(type, annotation);
     }
 
-    function createEmptyElBinder() { return new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null); }
+    function createEmptyElBinder() { return new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null, null); }
 
     function createComponentElBinder(nestedProtoView = null) {
       var binding = createDirectiveBinding(SomeComponent);
-      var binder = new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, binding);
+      var binder = new ElementBinder(0, null, 0, null, null, binding);
       binder.nestedProtoView = nestedProtoView;
       return binder;
     }
diff --git a/modules/angular2/test/render/dom/convert_spec.ts b/modules/angular2/test/render/dom/convert_spec.ts
index 71a479c19d..8b924c35a1 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/test/render/dom/convert_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/test/render/dom/convert_spec.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export function main() {
         readAttributes: ['read1', 'read2'],
         selector: 'some-comp',
         type: DirectiveMetadata.COMPONENT_TYPE,
+        exportAs: 'aaa',
         callOnDestroy: true,
         callOnChange: true,
         callOnCheck: true,
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ export function main() {
       expect(MapWrapper.get(map, 'callOnChange')).toEqual(true);
       expect(MapWrapper.get(map, 'callOnInit')).toEqual(true);
       expect(MapWrapper.get(map, 'callOnAllChangesDone')).toEqual(true);
+      expect(MapWrapper.get(map, 'exportAs')).toEqual('aaa');
     });
 
     it('mapToDirectiveMetadata', () => {
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ export function main() {
         ['readAttributes', ['readTest1', 'readTest2']],
         ['selector', 'testSelector'],
         ['type', DirectiveMetadata.DIRECTIVE_TYPE],
+        ['exportAs', 'aaa'],
         ['callOnDestroy', true],
         ['callOnCheck', true],
         ['callOnInit', true],
@@ -71,6 +74,7 @@ export function main() {
       expect(meta.readAttributes).toEqual(['readTest1', 'readTest2']);
       expect(meta.selector).toEqual('testSelector');
       expect(meta.type).toEqual(DirectiveMetadata.DIRECTIVE_TYPE);
+      expect(meta.exportAs).toEqual('aaa');
       expect(meta.callOnDestroy).toEqual(true);
       expect(meta.callOnCheck).toEqual(true);
       expect(meta.callOnInit).toEqual(true);