The US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has licensed its Smart Charger Controller to the California-based electric car maker Zap. The new controller technology manages peak energy demand to reduce power costs for consumers and lessen the demands on the electric grid.  The controller technology will lower the demand for less green energy sources that are often used to satisfy peak demand.

PNNL’s controller allows electric vehicle owners to pick what time they want their vehicle to be fully charged.  The controller communicates with the power grid to automatically recharge the battery when demand – and energy prices – are low.

According to PNNL, the existing US power grid has the capacity to supply more than 70 percent of the energy needed for all light-duty vehicles currently on the road – if they were all electric. Smart grid devices like the Smart Charger Controller enable consumers and utilities alike to carefully manage vehicle charge times to eliminate the need for new generation or transmission capacity.

China and Korea are expected to implement the technology through Zap’s partnerships in their respective countries. China is continuing to develop its electric car charging infrastructure and is in the process of completing a 45-car charging station in Shandong province, located in the eastern region of the country.

In Europe, the United Kingdom has signed a deal with IBM to evaluate what infrastructure would be needed to bring electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to mass market. The British government has committed to spend more than $453 million (£293 million) on creating the infrastructure, with plans to build 25,000 charging stations in London by 2015.

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