[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5835\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EA universal plug for electric cars\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElectric cars could alleviate pollution in Europe\u2019s congested cities if only people started buying and driving them in significant numbers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the big problems is that standards for plugs, cables, and electrical communications are different across the world, giving manufacturers a headache and causing potential buyers to think twice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarlier this year, the EU settled on a common plug for charging electric vehicles, but only after months of negotiations between Germany, France and Italy over different designs. Carmakers across the world still have differing standards for quick charging, causing confusion for electric car owners who would need to scout around for a compatible charging station.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s why research services in Europe and the US have teamed up to set up so-called interoperability centres, which make sure that different systems can work together so any electric car can be plugged in at any charging station.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Most car manufacturers operate on both sides of the Atlantic and we should come to the same result so that the vehicle that is produced for Europe is basically the same as the vehicle that is produced for the US market,\u2019 said Dr Alois Krasenbrink, head of the Sustainable Transport Unit at Ispra, the Italian site of the EU\u2019s in-house research service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC). \u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Most car manufacturers operate on both sides of the Atlantic and we should come to the same result so that the vehicle that is produced for Europe is basically the same as the vehicle that is produced for the US market.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Alois Krasenbrink, head of the Sustainable Transport Unit at Ispra, Italy\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECutting the cost\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA major benefit of making sure that standards are the same in Europe and the US is that it will make life easier for manufacturers, meaning cheaper cars for consumers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If for each possible plug socket configuration you have to provide an individual vehicle type for it, then the costs are extremely high,\u2019 Dr Krasenbrink said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECost is one of the big sticking points with electric cars. Models that are on sale at the moment, such as the sporty Tesla Roadster, BMW\u2019s i3, and the Nissan Leaf, still retail at luxury prices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESales of electric plug-in cars in Europe are forecast to grow from 45 000 in 2011, to more than 669 000 in 2020, according to Navigant Research, a research company specialising in green technology, but much of that growth depends on the success of the\u0026nbsp;interoperability centres.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the US, the impact is expected to be just as great. \u0027Fully electrified transport systems will cut US oil consumption by one-third and result in a 25\u0026nbsp;% reduction in carbon footprint,\u0027 said Eric Isaacs, the director of the US Department of Energy\u0027s (DOE) Argonne laboratory, where the first of three new\u0026nbsp;interoperability centres opened earlier this year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESmart grids\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, power-hungry electric cars will increasingly depend on so-called smart grids - electricity grids that can route power to where it\u0027s most needed. \u0027We cannot meet these goals\u0026nbsp;(reducing oil consumption)\u0026nbsp;without an electric grid that can power and sustain them,\u0027 Isaacs said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;interoperability centres, the result of over 18 months of negotiation between the JRC and the US DOE that began when an initial agreement was signed in 2011 and ended earlier this year, will look at the nuts and bolts of developing standards for electric cars to work with smart grids.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe US centre, for example, will help to develop standard rules for wireless charging systems and is working on a small, low-cost device to measure charge energy. During 2014, sister centres will be opened at the JRC sites in Petten, The Netherlands, and at Ispra, Italy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the centres can help make standards the same across the world, they will also reduce trade barriers, according to Isaacs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe joint initiative is a game-changer in other ways. The EU and US are currently in the throes of negotiations over an ambitious trade and investment agreement known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership \u2013 aiming\u0026nbsp;\u003Cspan\u003Eat removing trade barriers such as tariffs, unnecessary regulations and restrictions on investment in a wide range of economic sectors so as to make it easier to buy and sell goods and services between the EU and the US.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the context of these negotiations, the work of the new centres will be keenly watched to gauge the prospects for significant technological harmonisation across the world\u2019s two biggest economies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-mxfr-w7bex0c7fs2df5jfrxncsz7qnau5cjqzb6mmi4\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-mXFr-W7BEX0C7FS2df5JfRxNcsz7QnAU5cJQZb6Mmi4\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]