Siemens was given a $1.6-million research grant from the Department of Energy to research ways to cut the cost of electrical vehicle chargers and to develop smart charging capabilities. That’s according to CleanTechnica.
Almost $75,000 in matching funding will also go into this research.
Duke Energy and Ford Motor Company are collaborating with Siemens.
According to Siemens, the funding is intended to encourage manufacturers to work together on commercial EV charging technology that supports integration with the power grid and provides benefits to consumers.
The research is also intended to help utilities manage the transition to a national EV charging infrastructure.
In addition to validating concepts, Duke Energy will help guide communications development, Siemens says in a press release.
In addition to supporting energy security, U.S. Energy Secretary Steve Chu, said in a prepared statement, “Developing smart electric vehicle chargers will provide more options to consumers and accelerate the build-out of the charging infrastructure in ways that strengthen the grid.”
Also in a written statement, Barry Contrael, director of Low Voltage Electronics for Siemens Infrastructure and Cities, said, “The government’s investment will expedite collaboration. If any company were to endeavor to go it alone, they would have to create and let the market accept or reject solutions for all the possible combinations of EV chargers, utility communication protocols and networks that exist…By teaming up, the companies chosen by the DoE will be able to develop standardized solutions faster and at a greatly reduced overall cost.”
To read the full CleanTechnica article cited in this story, click here