The California Energy Commission recently approved over $12.5 million for nine projects related to alternative vehicle technology. Projects related to the STOV market included:
- Nearly $1 million to Santa Cruz-based Zero Motorcycles to develop a motor and integrated controller specifically for use in electric vehicles such as motorcycles, neighborhood electric vehicles, and all-terrain vehicles with a target production price of less than $450 each.
- $1.1 million to Coulomb Technologies to develop their Charge Point Communication Processor, designed to be installed into existing electric chargers and into new chargers manufactured by other companies. The result will be a complete smart charger network capable of remotely controlling the charging and discharging of batteries and shifting charging loads away from peak hours.
Many of the grants are matched by the participating companies and in some cases local governments provide additional funding or loans as well.