WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Sept. 8 the department will fund 16 projects aimed at supporting community planning for plug-in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. The projects will receive $8.5 million through DOE's Clean Cities initiative to facilitate local public-private partnerships that will develop EV deployment strategies. 

These one-year projects will help communities address such needs as updating permitting processes, revising codes, training municipal personnel, promoting public awareness, and developing incentives. Each will create a plan that will be publicly available so that other stakeholders can learn best practices.

To read the full list of award winners, click here. 

Energy Secretary Steven Chu also announced seven projects in seven states to help prepare college students for careers designing and building advanced vehicle technologies.

DOE's Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) initiative will award $6.4 million over five years to support efforts at American colleges, universities, and university-affiliated research institutions. The awardees will focus on three critical automotive technology areas: hybrid propulsion, energy storage, and lightweight materials. 

To learn more about the GATE award winners, click here.

By funding curriculum development and expansion as well as laboratory work, GATE allows higher education institutions to develop multidisciplinary training. As a result, GATE promotes development of a skilled workforce that can overcome technical barriers and help commercialize the next generation of advanced automotive technologies, DOE said.