Eaton Awarded Department of Energy Grant to Increase Efficiency, Reduce Cost of Electric Vehicle Charging

Eaton Corporation has received a $1.84 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) for the development and demonstration of more efficient commercial electric vehicle (EV) chargers. The project will promote smart charging technology that better manages the efficiency, availability and reliability of power, especially during peak times and at popular charging locations.

Eaton’s grant is part of a larger federal research and development program to help reduce the current costs of EV chargers by 50 percent over the next three years and to support the adoption and deployment of EVs.

"Smart charging technology will provide more options to consumers and strengthen the charging infrastructure and the electric grid," said John Wirtz, business unit manager, Eaton’s Electrical Transportation Infrastructure. "By providing real-time monitoring and reporting, Eaton’s participation in this project will help EV fleet managers, businesses and power companies to increase system uptime, reduce energy costs and maximize the reliability of their chargers."

Two of the four selected projects receiving federal funding will focus on improving residential EV chargers. The other two selected projects, including Eaton’s, will focus on ac Level 2 charging stations used at commercial and public locations to charge large numbers of vehicles, such as commercial fleets of delivery vehicles.

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