Google pushes 100-mpg car

[MarinJohn]

http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/19/news/econo...=rss_topstories
By Steve Hargreaves


[Google] Offers millions to advance plug-in hybrid vehicles and other technologies that link nation's transport system to the electric grid.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Google said Tuesday it is getting in on the development of electric vehicles, awarding $1 million in grants and inviting applicants to bid for another $10 million in funding to develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles capable of getting 70 to 100 miles per gallon.

The project, called the RechargeIT initiative and run from Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, aims to further the development of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles - cars or trucks that have both a gasoline engine and advanced batteries that recharge by plugging into the nation's electric grid.

[MJ: In this space the article shows a picture of a plug-in Prius]

More article follows

[daronspicher]

The part I didn't 'get' was wanting the ability to sell back into the grid the stored power in the cars.

Seems that each car would have so little, why spend the time to make this work? Leave it in the car for the next trip to the store.

I think 100mpg plugin can be achieved, they need to define what that means.... What this country needs is a car that can go 100 miles in a day before the gas engine starts up. Most of this will come on the back of getting the battery for it.

[Pinto Girl]

I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but...one million dollars in grants...?

What's Google's market cap these days? How much are the founders worth?

If Paul Allen had ben this penurious, I have no doubts that the X-Prize would still be up for grabs.

[burritos]

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/n...ABF6A4?id=49007

They've also installed a 1.6 MW system. Is it too late to buy Google stock and still make money?

[F8L]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Jun 19 2007, 10:02 AM) [snapback]464753[/snapback]</div>

The part I didn't 'get' was wanting the ability to sell back into the grid the stored power in the cars.

Seems that each car would have so little, why spend the time to make this work? Leave it in the car for the next trip to the store.

I think 100mpg plugin can be achieved, they need to define what that means.... What this country needs is a car that can go 100 miles in a day before the gas engine starts up. Most of this will come on the back of getting the battery for it.
[/b]

My buddy Chris Daly (Bay Area Air Quality Management Board) was talking about this and part of the idea is that while each car has a small amount of available power, a large number of cars that are plugged in could soften a spike in energy needs. IE, current demands may be at a fairly stable level but one small spike could trip a circuit breaker right? Maybe this is a way to cushion a hit before something "trips a breaker".

[daniel]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Jun 19 2007, 10:02 AM) [snapback]464753[/snapback]</div>

The part I didn't 'get' was wanting the ability to sell back into the grid the stored power in the cars.

Seems that each car would have so little, why spend the time to make this work? Leave it in the car for the next trip to the store.
[/b]

This is part of the original PriusPlus concept from CalCars. The idea is that the nation's power-generating capacity must be sufficient to meet the peak power demand. By storing power generated at off-peak times, and recovering it at peak times, the whole system becomes more efficient, operating nearer capacity all the time, and reducing the need for building quite as many electric generating plants.

This is distributed off-peak power storage, analogous to distributed computing as seen in Stanford's Folding@Home project. Assuming a high installed PHEV capacity, it makes double use of that capacity, by using it for transportation and at the same time for peak shaving.