RechargeIT
Encyclopedia
RechargeIT is one of five initiatives within Google.org
, the charitable arm of Google
, created with the aim to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil
use, and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in electric vehicle
s.
and related vehicle-to-grid
(V2G) technology. As part of the program Google established a partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to develop software for energy management.
Together with the announcement of the initiative, Google also announced that it had switched on the solar panel installation at its Mountain View, California
headquarters in order to help the company reduce its environmental footprint and also to power its plug-ins with clean solar electricity. At 1.6 megawatts the project became the largest solar installation at that time on any corporate campus in the U.S. and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world.
The actual rollout of the initiative took place in January 2008.
s for its share-use fleet of converted plug-in hybrids available to its employees through a free carsharing
program and for those employees who drive to work in their Tesla Roadster
electric car
s. Solar panels are used to generate the electricity, and this pilot program is being monitored on a daily basis and performance results are published on RechargeIT's website.
. The results of the seven-week driving experiment for the converted Prius plug-in showed an average fuel economy
of 93.5 miles per US gallon (39.8 km/L) across all trips, and 115.1 miles per US gallon (48.9 km/L) for city trips, the maximum reached for any of the driving conditions tested. A summary of the results of the seven-week driving experiment are the following
Google.org
Google.org is the charitable arm of Internet search engine company Google.The organization has committed over $100 million in investments and grants as of May 2010. To fund the organization, Google granted them 3 million shares during their initial public offering. As of August 2011, Google.org's 3...
, the charitable arm of Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, created with the aim to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
use, and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in electric vehicle
Plug-in electric vehicle
A plug-in electric vehicle is any motor vehicle that can be recharged from any external source of electricity, such as wall sockets, and the electricity stored in the rechargeable battery packs drives or contributes to drive the wheels...
s.
History
The RechargeIT initiative was unveiled in June 2007. As part of the program Google.org awarded US$1 million in grants and announced plans for a US$10 million request for proposals to fund development, adoption and commercialization of plug-in hybrids, fully electric carsBattery electric vehicle
A battery electric vehicle, or BEV, is a type of electric vehicle that uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of, or in addition to, internal combustion engines for propulsion.A battery-only electric vehicle or...
and related vehicle-to-grid
Vehicle-to-grid
Vehicle-to-grid describes a system in which plug-in electric vehicles, such as electric cars and plug-in hybrids , communicate with the power grid to sell demand response services by either delivering electricity into the grid or by throttling their charging rate.Vehicle-to-grid can be used with...
(V2G) technology. As part of the program Google established a partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to develop software for energy management.
Together with the announcement of the initiative, Google also announced that it had switched on the solar panel installation at its Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
headquarters in order to help the company reduce its environmental footprint and also to power its plug-ins with clean solar electricity. At 1.6 megawatts the project became the largest solar installation at that time on any corporate campus in the U.S. and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world.
The actual rollout of the initiative took place in January 2008.
Google's carsharing program
By early 2010 Google's Mountain View campus had 100 available charging stationCharging station
An electric vehicle charging station, also called EV charging station, electric recharging point, charging point and EVSE , is an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric-gasoline vehicles) or semi-static and mobile...
s for its share-use fleet of converted plug-in hybrids available to its employees through a free carsharing
Carsharing
Car sharing or Carsharing is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. They are attractive to customers who make only occasional use of a vehicle, as well as others who would like occasional access to a vehicle of a different type than they use...
program and for those employees who drive to work in their Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster
The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle sports car produced by the electric car firm Tesla Motors in California. The Roadster was the first highway-capable all-electric vehicle in serial production available in the United States. Since 2008 Tesla has sold 2,024 Roadsters in 30 countries...
electric car
Electric car
An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...
s. Solar panels are used to generate the electricity, and this pilot program is being monitored on a daily basis and performance results are published on RechargeIT's website.
Driving experiment
In addition to the data collected for two years when the converted plug-ins were driven by Google employees, RechargeIT set up a controlled test using three conventional gasoline vehicles, two regular hybrids and two plug-in converted Ford Escape Hybrid and Toyota PriusToyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...
. The results of the seven-week driving experiment for the converted Prius plug-in showed an average fuel economy
Fuel economy in automobiles
Fuel usage in automobiles refers to the fuel efficiency relationship between distance traveled by an automobile and the amount of fuel consumed....
of 93.5 miles per US gallon (39.8 km/L) across all trips, and 115.1 miles per US gallon (48.9 km/L) for city trips, the maximum reached for any of the driving conditions tested. A summary of the results of the seven-week driving experiment are the following
| RechargeIT Driving Experiment results Average miles per gallon |
|||||||
| Internal combustion engine Internal combustion engine The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine... |
Hybrid electric Hybrid electric vehicle A hybrid electric vehicle is a type of hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle which combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional... |
Converted Plug-in hybrid | |||||
| Type of trip | Ford Expedition Ford Expedition The Ford Expedition is a full-size SUV built by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1997 as a replacement to the Ford Bronco, it was previously slotted between the smaller Ford Explorer and the larger Ford Excursion, but as of the 2005 model year, it is Ford's largest and last truck-based,... |
Toyota Sienna Toyota Sienna The Toyota Sienna is a family minivan currently manufactured by Toyota at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton, Indiana, United States for the North American market. It replaced the first-generation Previa van in 1997 with a more conventional front wheel drive layout and shares a heavily... |
Toyota Corolla Toyota Corolla The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact and compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million... |
Ford Escape Hybrid | Toyota Prius Toyota Prius The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation... |
Ford Escape Hybrid plug-in |
Toyota Prius Toyota Prius The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation... plug-in |
| Average for all trips | 14.2 | 20.3 | 30.8 | 32.2 | 48.4 | 49.1 | 93.5 |
| Average for city trips | 11.8 | 17.8 | 26.6 | 31.2 | 47.3 | 45.9 | 115.1 |
| Average for combine city/highway | 14.9 | 20.4 | 31.4 | 31.6 | 46.4 | 52.0 | 101.9 |
| Average for highway trips | 18.6 | 25.2 | 39.0 | 34.4 | 53.1 | 51.1 | 68.7 |
See also
- Better Place
- CalCarsCalCarsCalCars is a charitable, non-profit organization founded in 2002 to promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a key to addressing oil dependence and global warming both nationally and internationally...
- Google driverless carGoogle driverless carThe Google Driverless Car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless cars. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View, whose team at Stanford...
- Google PowerMeterGoogle PowerMeterGoogle PowerMeter was a software project of Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, to help consumers track their home electricity usage. The development of the software was part of an effort by Google to invest in renewable energy, electricity grid upgrades, and other measures that would reduce...
- Plug-in hybrids in CaliforniaPlug-in hybrids in CaliforniaCalifornia is a main territory in the world promoting plug-in hybrids.- CalCars :CalCars is a charitable, non-profit organization founded in 2002 to promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a key to addressing global warming both nationally and internationally...
- United States energy independence
External links
- RechargeIT home page.
- Google.org RechargeIT: Plug-in Hybrids by Google at YouTube. 15 June 2007.
- RechargeIT: The Driving Experiment by Google.org at YouTube. 22 July 2008.