Google gives $200,000 to plug-in hybrid car group
Google’s for-profit foundation Google.org has given a $200,000 grant to CalCars.org, a group that advocates the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric cars.
Plug-in hybrids are cars you can plug into an electricity outlet to recharge their batteries, and national automakers have been slow to develop them. PG&E and GM plan to enter the market over the next couple of years.
CalCars’ Felix Kramer (left) is the guy you’ll see driving a car around Palo Alto, Calif. that he claims gets 100+ MPG. The Google grant comes seven months after plans by Google to support plug-in hybrids first leaked in a NYT story. However, that piece was speculative and didn’t provide too many details. We’re hearing Google doesn’t plan to get into the car business — just like it doesn’t plan to get into the hardware phone business. But it we’re hearing it wants to strongly support adoption of such cars — announcement to come. Google co-founders Larry and Sergey were both early buyers of the Prius, and are supporters of the all-electric Tesla.
Kramer manages a helpful news archive tracking the latest developments in this sector; and see his blog.
(Photo courtesy U.S. News and World Report)
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt Marshall is editor and CEO of VentureBeat. Follow him on Twitter at @mmarshall, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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