photos: green wombat
Talk about a clean commute: As part of an $11 million green cars initiative, Google is creating a plug-in hybrid car-sharing fleet. Employees will be able to book a super fuel-efficient plug-in Prius online through a partnership with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, charge the car under a solar-powered canopy at the Googleplex and, eventually, feed electricity from the car’s battery back to the grid. Google (GOOG) and California utility PG&E (PCG) demo’d the technology yesterday in Mountain View during the launch of the RechargeIt.org initiative from Google.org, the search giant’s philanthropic arm.
Under sunny skies, Google.org chief Larry Brilliant drove a white plug-in Prius emblazoned with the Google colors into a parking bay whose roof is covered with solar panels, part of the company’s 1.6 megawatt solar installation – the nation’s largest. He got out of the car and grabbed one of the retractable power cords hanging from the roof and plugged in the Prius to applause from the Googlers and guests. (Plug-in hybrids feature larger, rechargeable batteries that allow the cars to travel further on electric power, dramatically increasing fuel efficiency as the gasoline engine is used less.) "We hope to demonstrate the potential of plug-in hybrid cars and vehicle-to-grid technologies as a way to create a more, secure and efficient green energy system," Brilliant said as nearly a dozen other Priuses sat parked behind him. A123 Systems/Hymotion has converted two Priuses for Google, which will use them to gather data on plug-in hybrid performance. So far, the Google Priuses – named Galapagos and Great Barrier Reef – have averaged about 74 miles per gallon – that’s 3.2 liters per 100 kilometers for readers residing in the metric world – and produce 68 percent fewer emissions than the average U.S. car.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who rode to the event on a bicycle, showed how plug-in hybrids can feed electricity to the grid at peak demand times to reduce the need to tap greenhouse-gas emitting power plants. "I happen to have a Prius but not a plug-in. Now I’ll have to try to get one myself," Brin said. "It would be very nice not to have the inconvenience of going to gas stations." He plugged a power cord into a Prius and then pressed a button on a laptop that sent a wireless signal to the car, which began sending electricity back to the grid.
"I think the potential for plug-in hybrid cars and all-electric cars is really great," Google co-founder Larry Page told Green Wombat as he stood by his blue Huffy bicycle. "I love the demo with the plug-in to grid. If you have tens of thousands or millions of these cars, the amount of energy they can produce is much more than the normal generation capacity."
As part of the RechargeIt program, Google will invest $10 million in alternative transportation technologies and is giving $1 million to various groups to advance plug-in hybrids. Small change, perhaps, by Google standards, but as electric car companies like Silicon Valley’s Tesla Motors have shown, you don’t need Detroit and Tokyo’s billion-dollar budgets to make significant strides in automotive technology. Tesla, for instance, will put its Roadster super car on the highway for about $100 million.
But efforts like Google’s plug-in hybrid car-sharing program may have the most potential to light a fire under the automakers, which have so far dragged their feet on developing such cars. When up to 100 converted Priuses begin cruising the highways and byways of the Bay Area, many consumers are going to have the same reaction Green Wombat had after a ride in the Tesla Roadster: I want one. Now imagine if other Silicon Valley companies – say, Yahoo (YHOO) – follow Google’s lead and create similar car-sharing programs. Microsoft (MSFT), for instance, itself has a huge solar array at its Mountain View campus.
"We hope programs like this will encourage manufacurers to make similar commerically viable plug in cars available. We know there’s a pent-up demand for such a product," said Enterprise executive Greg Stubblefield. And we’re anxious to see manufacturers progress in that direction. As we would certainly be a buyer for these vehicles."
Green Wombat 
GM/FORD/CHRYSLER make something like this? You must be kidding. Just look at GM’s joke of a hybrid car (Saturn ‘green line’). Ford doesn’t do too bad with the Escape. But when compared to Toyota/Honda/Nissan, well, there’s just no comparison since T/H/N are not in bed with the big oil companies. I dislike the idea of buying T/H/N, but since I cannot get an equivalent product from GM/Ford, when the plug-in Prius comes to Ohio, I’ll buy one.
Who made the batteries for the other 8 plug-ins? What about Lithium Technology Corporation, which seems to have a more proven technology?
Uncle Sam, your an idiot if you think the Big 3 are in bed with the oil companies. Ford just loves when gas goes to $3 a gallon because that will just have people rushing to buy F-150s. I am so tired of ignorant Americans making comments like this. Ford’s fleet gets an average economy of 25mpg while Toyota gets right around 30mpg. Ford’s Motor Co (all brands) initial quality was higher than Toyota’s (all brands) as rated by J.D. Powers. It never fails that what we hear out of the media and most of the general public is that Toyotas get much better gas mileage than Ford, plus the quality is so much better, but if you actually use your brain and do some research you realize that Ford is very competitive in these fields.
I also wish people also realized a few other things. Almost 50% of the nations electrity comes from coal plants. Coal maybe the worst resource of them all in terms of their danger to the environment and severe health problems including lung and heart disease. So all you people including Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Barack Obama (yes you with you ignorant 45mpg Toyota fleet comments) and all the other people pushing electric hybrid cars realize that until our electric grid is power by things other than coal, all you really are doing is making the problem worse.
Finally, about biofuels, specifically ethanol. In the U.S. ethanol is made from corn. Corn is a very inefficient resource to make ethanol out of. On the other hand sugarcane & sugar beets make about 8 times the amount of ethanol that corn does, but our government protects & subsidizes the sugar industry from competition to keep prices high for US sugar companies. So high infact that it is cheaper to make ethanol from corn. If you really want to save the environment you should start by contacting your senator and ask them to remove the protection granted to US sugar makers. If you are worried about the US sugar makers, just think how much sugar they can sell if it is also used to produce ethanol.
Don, you are incorrect. Coal-fired electricity use could be actually reduced by driving EVs:
1. People charge at night while they sleep. Even if that is only coal, (which it is not in many states now, and with new legislation will now get cleaner every year)it is still way less CO2 because it takes so little electricity: about 1 kw per hour, for 6 hours, like running a hair dryer. Because of this, (nighttime and measly amounts) compared to gasoline coal is not as dirty for running EVs.
Also BECAUSE
a. night time coalfired electrons are unemployed: the coal plants can’t shut down when we sleep. Coal plants are pumping out that electricity to waste now. This is a way to use that waste energy.
2. Night time charging of our transportation (when wind blows more at night) is an effective way to store wind energy, otherwise wasted just like overnight running coal plants) while we sleep. So now more wind power can be added to reduce gasoline use.
The CO2 comparison is:
100 lbs driving EVs versus
3000 lbs driving on gasoline
http://www.electric-cars-are-for-girls.com/electric-powered-cars.html
We do not need to build more coal plants.
http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1904
Ironic that Google gets such good press for something that GM did a good 15 years ago with the EV1. Proves that what you do is not as important as who you are. The only difference is the solar panels suppling the plug power. The only thing lacking with the EV1 was the infrastructure. Those who bash GM please explain why Toyota’s landmark vehicle this year, the one they built a massive plant for (TUNDRA) is a massive truck. Every GM car, except the low volume Corvette gets over 30MPG. I suppose this fact is an “inconvenient truth” to those that hate on Detroit (including the person who came up with the title of this article).
Poncho, GM dropped the ball on EV1 and by doing so, not only pushed US 10 years back in development of EV technology, but also opened the door for others (like Toyota) to take the lead. Sad, but truth. I believe oil companies influenced GM’s decision to kill EV1 project, perhaps indirectly to avoid publicity. Now we have to catch up and I hope we will. I think Americans would LOVE to buy from GM/Ford/Crysler, but for that to happen their cars should make AT LEAST real 50 mpg on the road. We can and MUST accomplish that, but it will not come without a huge effort.
http://www.wanttoknow.info/freeenergy
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid114.php
I would welcome the plug in Prius and only wish the big three US automakers would wake up and make cars and trucks that can get MPG…
What do the big three have to offer that compares to the foreign cars? (Nothing, Nada, zilch etc. etc.) Then the auto companies continualy ask why the sales are slumping as they push the biggest horsepower car on the dealer lot.
I live in Ohio Republican land where everyone would rather drill for Oil off the coast line or know a baby Polar Bear over the head in Alaska while drilling for oil instead of looking for alternative fuels. Bio Diesel and Ethanol tied to hybrids are the way to go but in Ohio they would rather drive their H3’s and big SUV’s by themselves to work daily.
hehe i randomly wandered over to the googleplex yesterday when they did this and met freakin sergey brin!! Highlight of my life….
When a 25mpg ford and a 30 mpg toyoda have a head on collision the passengers in the ford have a chance to live; the people in the toyoda have the best chance to die. The law of energy connot be changed by politicans. Congress is dumb, the lady speaker is bent on destroying the Us Army. She is two hearts beats from becomming commander and chief over nothing but an economic depression created by mpg rules and regulations against americans.
Electric cars are the best way to get off foreign oil, and the huge national security threat posed by any disruption of supply.
Burning coal to make electricity may not be ideal, but a big coal plant still makes less pollution per mile driven than a tiny little gas engine. The cost of electricity per mile is equivalent to one dollar per gallon.
I have driven Fords for almost 20 years and like them. I would like to buy a US built vehicle because I am loyal to US brands, but if there is no decent US plug in electric vehicle when I go to buy my next car, I will buy ot from whoever is best. I am fed up with the US car companies and imported gasoline in general.
Poncho K said: “Every GM car, except the low volume Corvette gets over 30MPG.”
That’s a load of bollocks. I just priced a CTS-V and it gets 15/24 mpg.
And I don’t hate Detroit…as a matter of fact, that’s where I was born and raised.
Get your facts straight, PK.
Anyway, a plug in hybrid using a renewable source (wind, solar)…how can that not be beneficial unless the creation of the renewable source causes more pollution?
How dos this system produce extra electricity for the grid, run the gas portion longer? Why don’t they give the cost of the car and those batteries? Of course Google can do this they make billions everytime we use the net.
The comment about the Ford Escape hybrid vs. Toyota hybrids is incorrect.
The Ford beats the Highlander hybrid in MPG in every single way.
First off, I drove Toyotas 30 years ago and switched back to Ford/GM in 1985. GM “plastic” Transport vands in the 90’s and Saturn’s since. My next vehicle will be a hybrid and most likely a Toyota Prius plug-in at 74 to 100mpg. If and that’s a big if, GM or Ford see fit to offer a hybrid that gets that kind of milage and can run on only battery’s until 35/40mph, then I would consider GM/Ford. Ford’s Escape fit the small SUV that I like (Saturn Vue), but it does not get 74 mpg. I do not want to buy a Toyota/Honda/Nissan, but unfortunately the US companies almost force us to buy T/H/N to get a decent hybrid. My Saturn dealer says “You don’t want a hybrid, we have vehicles that get 30mpg”. True, but I want a 60 to 100 mpg hybrid and GM can not provide that…
Just to clarify, Toyota has little to do with this Google fleet, they did not make the plug in prius, in fact converting a prius to plug in voids the Toyota warrenty.
Wind/Solar + electric vehicles is defiantly the way of the future! I am so pleased that you Americans are finally starting to see the bigger picture, I just hope that it is not too late…
The three big auto companies love trucks and big cars because they can more of a profit.
They see their businesses as a quaterly race instead of a 100 year plan like Toyota does.
Everyine is forgetting that without massive subsidies, these electric cars would fail in the market. The EV1 didn’t fail because of greedy GM and the oil companies. It failed because it was a bad car and nobody wanted it at the price that it was at.
Everyine is forgetting that without massive subsidies, these electric cars would fail in the market. The EV1 didn’t fail because of greedy GM and the oil companies. It failed because it was a bad car and nobody wanted it at the price that it was at.
Many people would argue that the EV1 was an excellent car. GM only offered it in California as a lease option. Many tree-hugging actors, etc. with unlimited cash would have paid anything for it, but GM would not sell it. Eventually all the EV1s were mothballed and most were destroyed.
As a reference, take a look at this 2006 documentary “Who killed the electric car?” The link is below:
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/
I’ve seen the charging stations for electic vehicles. No billing problems right? But who is going to pay for that charge when you plug it into any 110v/220v receptical? There has to be a way to tap into the electical grid from any 110V power recepticale and be billed for it and not have the owner of the recepticle pay for your charge. That way you wouldn’t have to tell your friends to keep their power cords out of your 110V recepticles.
My only question about the hybrids is this: What happens to the batteries in the hybrids once they are no longer usable? Does anyone have a comprehensive recycling program in place or in mind? Or will these batteries end up in the landfills just like old cell phone and laptop batteries?
Plug in hybrids are a step in the right direction. They won’t save the world but their manufacturers get credit for trying while the US automakers play damage control and catchup. Personally, I converted a gasoline car to pure electric and drive it about 50 miles per day using lead acid batteries. In the past year I’ve driven 6,500 miles. My yearly household CO2 emissions are 30% less and I don’t have spend $3.00+ per gallon.
http://www.portablemaps.com/ElectricCar.html
Bit late to chime in, but chime I will.
Power Plants: It is important to note the emphasis on plugging in one’s car during peak times. One source of huge energy waste comes from fluctuations in energy demand coupled with the inability to effectively store the excess during low demand and discharge during high demand. If plugging in became a dependable source on the grid then energy waste would decrease.
EV1: 15 years ago no one cared about being “green” hence little publicity and lack of support…ie no subsidies, low ROI due to lack of interest/demand. It’s less about “who you are” and whether or not GM “dropped the ball.” It’s about demand. Today green is cool. Today, we demand it.