GE, Siemens Set Challenge to Car Charger Start-Ups

General Electric Co. and Siemens AG are preparing to release their own lines of electric-car charging stations, injecting big-name competition into a nascent business now dominated by little known start-ups.

GE plans to deliver its first electric vehicle charger, called WattStation, this summer and Siemens will roll out its first models of what it calls the Siemens Charge later this year. The conglomerates are trailing a handful of small companies such as ECOtality Inc., Coulomb Technologies and AeroVironment Inc., that have already begun deliveries in California, Texas and Oregon