In June of this year, Google’s philanthropy arm announced the RechargeIT initiative which “aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technology.”
As a part of this initiative, Google recently announced that it wants to invest ten million dollars in companies that are working with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), electric vehicles, and vehicle to grid technologies. The foundation has issued a request for investment proposals for projects between half a million and two million dollars from early stage technology ventures.
While this certainly won’t change the electric car scene tomorrow, or maybe not even next year, it is long range investments such as this that make the electric car scene really exciting. Right now we stand at a point where electric cars have strong advantages in many fields, but there still remain some applications and situations for which gasoline powered cars have the edge. However, we stand at a tipping point of sorts. With the conscious perception of electric cars increasing, all it would really take is a significant breakthrough in electrical storage, battery size, or any number of other minor components to put the electric car in a position of overall advantage.
So, in many ways, Google’s support of electric vehicle development is important for all of us to know, as it means that their just might be a widespread change in the air. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed!