Google and plug-in hybrids
Google.org, the philanthropy division of Google, has just launched an exciting new project called RechargeIT as a part of its greater Climate Change Program. RechargeIT aims to accelerate the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (”plug-in hybrids”) and vehicle-to-grid (”V2G”) applications. The first step has been to implement a small test fleet of 4 modified Toyota Priuses and 2 modified Ford Escape Hybrids with the eventual goal of including over 100 plug-in hybrids in their fleet.
Unlike conventional hybrids, which can only charge their batteries via their internal combustion engines and through regenerative braking, plug-in hybrids are also able to be charged by plugging them into the electrical grid. The Priuses and Escape in this project have thus received additional batteries and an external plug.
They aim to demonstrate the capabilities of this technology, collecting actual data on the performance of these vehicles, and making this information available to the public. All of these cars are outfitted with data recording devices that track technical and environmental performance, use patterns and charging history.
Both electricity and petrol use data is being used to calculate the total energy use for each vehicle to get ‘real world’ performance data on these cars. In order to compare this data to other cars under similar conditions, Google.org is equipping their normal hybrids and conventional cars with the same data recording devices. With this data, they will be able to measure the mileage of plug-in hybrids vs. conventional petrol and hybrid vehicles under realistic driving conditions.
To date, Google.org’s plug-in hybrids are averaging about 3.14l/100km of petrol which is four times that of the American car.
The plug-in hybrids will be charged off of Google’s recently installed solar panel installation, pictured below (you can read all about this installation here).
Additionally, RechargeIT is exploring ways to develop and deploy V2G technology. V2G is a system where Google will be demonstrating how electricity might be transmitted back and forth between plug-in hybrids and the electrical grid. V2G offers the potential to use plug-in hybrids are used as a battery storage system to make better use of our energy and stabilize the grid. The objective of the V2G project is to collect real world data to understand the benefits of V2G and enable future adoption.
Source: The Official Google Blog (thanks to Pavel for the info).
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