Hoping to jump-start innovation in "sustainable transportation," Google.org – the search giant’s philanthropic arm – today issued a $10 million request for proposals for projects that will promote the commercialization of plug-in hybrid vehicles, electric cars and vehicle-to-grid technology. "We plan to invest amounts ranging from $500,000 to $2,000,000 in selected for-profit companies," said Google.org. "While $10 million is a fraction of the total investment needed to transform our transportation sector, we hope this RFP will help catalyze a broader response. We need the automakers to bring these cars to market, but plug-in vehicles also need an entire ecosystem of companies flourish." The grants are part of Google.org’s (GOOG) RechargeIt.org initiative. In June, the company unveiled a solar-powered parking bay and recharging stations it created with utility PG&E (PCG) where workers can juice up a fleet of plug-in hybrid cars that Google is creating for an employee car-sharing service. Google is also testing several plug-in Toyota Priuses (TM) to assess their potential to serve as mobile generators, transferring electricity back to the grid from their batteries during times of peak demand.
That’s good for the environment and a weapon in the fight against global warming. But it also could be a big business opportunity for Google if plug-in vehicles and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) become common. Imagine the data and network management infrastructure needed to figure out where millions of cars are plugged in at any given moment, determining the power level of their batteries, and matching that with the demands of the power grid. Green Wombat happened to be at the Googleplex on Saturday and asked Dan Reicher, Google.org’s director of climate and energy initiatives, about whether the company has a role to play in V2G. "It’s clearly a data management challenge and there are things we can do, but it’s unclear if it’s a big business opportunity," he said.
What Google is doing now is collecting data on the performance of plug-in hybrid Priuses. On Saturday, Reicher showed the latest additions to Google’s plug-in fleet. Since may, hundreds of Google employees have been using the modified Priuses to run errands and as they tool around Silicon Valley black boxes installed in the cars record data on the driving conditions, fuel efficiency and other factors.
Green Wombat 
Among other thoughts provoked by this informative post, I’m now wondering if a garage roof bedecked with solar panels could collect enough energy on average each day to charge a car battery enough for the commute to work and back for the average person. Any ideas how feasible a solar garage / battery car combo would be?
According to Bill Weihl, Google’s green energy czar, the number of solar panels that cover one parking space at the Googleplex parking structure is more than sufficient to charge a plug-in hybrid Prius.
I have developed an engine which can be produced for less that $1000, generates 220 hp and runs on tap water. It has no emissions. But the oil industry is trying to kill meeee…
A case of the cart before the mule. Solar panel and battery technology are just not up to the job yet.
I believe the best way to produce electricity from renewable energy geared to Plug-ins Hybrids is installing gigawatts of geothermal energy, wind energy and solar energy. We have the desert for solar. We have the mountains, hills and oceans for wind, and we have the underground wind and solar.
What we lack is the political will to bring to pass these in preparation for a hydrogen economy.
Sorry, I meant to say
“We have the underground for geothermal”
I have developed an engine that runs on stupid thoughts from idiots and I need to line up a bunch for a test drive… Todd are you available?
Sorry Todd, I meant Christine… maybe I should be powering my new engine!
“Green Car” = oxymoron.
“Buy the concept” = uramoron.
http://www.freepublictransit.org
We are seeing digital markets growing that support the new starts in going green.
I also am seeing spurred growth in high tech markets that produce nano applications. That will change the products available to companies and provide a swifter approach to change.
Without search we would never know of the leaps in technology serving change for alternative energy. http://www.theseoagency.com
This would be an excellent initiative of Google but the take-over of shares of the sponsered companies has an a little bad aftertaste.
Greetings
Markus
I have a hybrid, and I am hoping to get the plug-in upgrade next year.
I am a race car engine builder. Years ago I use to be a full time auto mechanic. Some of the most greenest people on earth are the worst, if not, most hypocritical people on the earth today. They buy or lease a brand new vehicle no matter what it would be (I am not going to be specific because they are all guilty). From the minute the own it, until the minute it is returned either with a lease or trade, absolutely nothing has been done to the vehicle. It needs everything: Tires, because of them not being rotated or balanced every 5,000 miles. Tire pressure. Don’t let anyone else tell you, it should be checked at least once a week. It akes about 5 to 10 minutes. If everyone in the world did this one every week, you could not imagine how much cleaner that this world would be. It would make you sick. Spark plugs and spark plug wires just because they are too expensive. A pcv valve. On most vehicles, this is a $7.00 item. You cannot image what this does to an engine if it is not replaced when it should. Dirty air filter, because of it being a hassle or just plain laziness. A fuel filter. Most people let this one go the entire vehicles life until they get stuck on the side of the road. You can’t imagine what an engines crankcase looks like after someone neglects that.
I had the priveledge recently of doing a complete teardown of a 2006 Honda Prius engine. I did a trace back from where the Toyota dealer was located. The engine had a little over 50,000 miles on it. When I had removed the oil pan and other entries to the crankcase, the person that owned it should have been arrested. I honestly do not believe that the oil was ever changed. It did not even look like oil an longer. It looked like black lard.
The point that I am trying to make is just because someone is driving a hybrid doesn’t excuse them for not maintaining the vehicle. They have the SAME if not MORE responsibility to do so because of the technology being so new.
The next time you see someone who is driving a large Chevrolet dually pickup which is over 15
YEARS old, and yes has 2 fuel tanks on it, it is because there are a lot of use left THAT DO follow the owners manual like it’s bible because it is. Most people like myself change their own oil, make their own repairs and don’t bitch because they had spent so much money sending the job to a dealership in which the job wasn’t done half as goon. This FACT. I change oil in all 4 vehicles that we own every 2,500 miles or every six months.
The people these days that piss and moan about gas guzzlers, big trucks, big pickup trucks, big SUVs, or just big cars in general, or; even, just gasoline powered vehicles should not bitch and moan at all. They should do one or two things: When buying a new or used vehicle, make sure that the owners manual come with the vehicle and follow it, and when you do, you really are being green. Or, the easiest one of all is don’t own a vehicle at all. Walk, ride a bicycle, or take the bus instead of being hypocritical.
The changes needed are technological changes.
I don’t want to ever change my engine oil
and I don’t want anyone to change it for me.
The ICE is dying. Unfortunately it may be a
very slow death. Long live the BEV once it
is born.