U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced awards totaling nearly $7 million in research and development funding to help to reduce the costs of electric vehicle charging systems by 50 percent over the next three years. Three major electrical manufacturers won a share of the funding:

Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, N.J., received $1,617,619 to redesign its residential EVSE systems to enable flexible, intelligent control of charging.

General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, N.Y., received $1,362,318 to improve the design and infrastructure for commercial chargers for EV fleets operated by companies, including FedEx.

Eaton Corp., Moon Township, Pa., received $1,837,004 to develop and demonstrate commercial electric vehicle chargers that can work with and support the smart grid, including providing two-way communications with the electric utility and coordinating with smart meter networks.