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 vehicles. [1] Google.org's official RechargeIT blog has not been updated since 2008. [2]
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 cars and related vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. [3] [4] As part of the program Google established a partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to develop software for energy management. [3]
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. [3] [4]
The actual rollout of the initiative took place in January 2008. [5]
By early 2010 Google's Mountain View campus had 100 available charging stations 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 (2008) electric cars. [6] [7] 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. [7]
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 Prius. 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 (2.52 L/100 km; 112.3 mpg‑imp) across all trips, and 115.1 miles per US gallon (2.044 L/100 km; 138.2 mpg‑imp) for city trips, the maximum reached for any of the driving conditions tested. [1] [7] A summary of the results of the seven-week driving experiment are the following
| RechargeIT Driving Experiment results Average miles per gallon [7] | |||||||
| Internal combustion engine | Hybrid electric | Converted Plug-in hybrid | |||||
| Type of trip | Ford Expedition | Toyota Sienna | Toyota Corolla | Ford Escape Hybrid | Toyota Prius | Ford Escape Hybrid plug-in | Toyota Prius 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 |
In order to reduce the carbon footprint of its employees' commute and based on the results of the RechargeIT pilot, the company expanded its corporate carsharing program to create Google GFleet and also introduced shuttle buses powered with biodiesel. In addition, more charging stations were deployed at the Googleplex for employees owning plug-in electric vehicles. [8] [9]
The initial GFleet was made of the converted plug-in hybrids from the RechargeIT initiative, and by mid-2011 Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts were added, expanding the carsharing corporate fleet to more than 30 plug-in electric vehicles. In December 2011, the first production Ford Focus Electric was delivered to Google and incorporated into the GFleet. [10] [11] By early 2012, Honda Fit EVs and Mitsubishi i-MiEVs have also been added to the GFleet. [12] [13] The Fit EV was incorporated as part of Honda's field testing program of its upcoming electric car. Through the partnership Google will analyze the vehicle environmental performance including CO2 reduction, energy consumption and overall energy cost. [13] [14]
Employees who use the biodiesel shuttle system to commute to work at Mountain View, have the GFleet vehicles available for their errands, off-site meetings, and emergencies. Employees can also use GBikes, Google's on-campus bike fleet. As of June 2011, a total of 71 Level 2 chargers were added to the existing 150 Level 1 chargers, bringing the Googleplex total capacity to more than 200 chargers, and another 250 new ones are scheduled to be installed. Google's goal is to electrify 5 percent of the parking spaces—all over campus, free of charge to its employees. [8] [9] [15]
Daily, up to a third of Bay Area employees take the shuttle to work. The corporate coach fleet exceeds the United States Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 bus emission standards. The buses run on 5% biodiesel and are fitted with filtration systems that eliminate many harmful emissions, including nitrogen oxide. Google is testing solar panels on some to power air circulation, so that shuttles can turn off their engines while they wait for passengers, thus reducing fuel use and emissions. [8] [9] As of mid-2011, Google estimated that its Gfleet and biodiesel shuttle system resulted in net annual savings of more than 5,400 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of taking over 2,000 cars per day off the road, or avoiding 14 million vehicle miles every year. [8] [15]
A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids.
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery or by converting fuel to electricity using a generator or fuel cells. EVs include road and rail vehicles, electric boats and underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electric spacecraft.
A green vehicle, clean vehicle, eco-friendly vehicle or environmentally friendly vehicle is a road motor vehicle that produces less harmful impacts to the environment than comparable conventional internal combustion engine vehicles running on gasoline or diesel, or one that uses certain alternative fuels. Presently, in some countries the term is used for any vehicle complying or surpassing the more stringent European emission standards, or California's zero-emissions vehicle standards, or the low-carbon fuel standards enacted in several countries.
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be replenished by connecting a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engine-powered generator. While PHEVs are predominantly passenger cars, there are also plug-in hybrid variants of sports cars, commercial vehicles, vans, utility trucks, buses, trains, motorcycles, mopeds, military vehicles and boats.
An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum fuels. The term also refers to any technology powering an engine that does not solely involve petroleum. Because of a combination of factors, such as environmental and health concerns including climate change and air pollution, high oil-prices and the potential for peak oil, development of cleaner alternative fuels and advanced power systems for vehicles has become a high priority for many governments and vehicle manufacturers around the world.
An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric traction motor, using only energy stored in on-board batteries. Compared to conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quieter, more responsive, have superior energy conversion efficiency and no exhaust emissions and lower overall vehicle emissions. The term "electric car" normally refers to plug-in electric vehicle, typically a battery electric vehicle (BEV), but broadly may also include plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV).
A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, with no secondary source of propulsion. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion. They derive all power from battery packs and thus have no internal combustion engine, fuel cell, or fuel tank. BEVs include – but are not limited to – motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, railcars, watercraft, forklifts, buses, trucks, and cars.
A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any road vehicle that can utilize an external source of electricity to store electrical energy within its onboard rechargeable battery packs, to power an electric motor and help propelling the wheels. PEV is a subset of electric vehicles, and includes all-electric/battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Sales of the first series production plug-in electric vehicles began in December 2008 with the introduction of the plug-in hybrid BYD F3DM, and then with the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV in July 2009, but global retail sales only gained traction after the introduction of the mass production all-electric Nissan Leaf and the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in December 2010.
The adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in the United States is supported by the American federal government, and several states and local governments.
As of March 2022, there were about 62,000 electric vehicles in New York, accounting for 0.6% of all vehicles in the state.
The BMW ActiveE was a demonstration electric car based on the BMW 1 Series small family cars. It was the second vehicle after the Mini E to be developed under BMW Group’s Project i. The electric drive system was the latest addition to BMW’s EfficientDynamics programme. The US Environmental Protection Agency official range is 151 kilometres (94 mi), with an energy consumption of 33 kW·h/100 miles, and the agency rated the ActiveE's combined fuel economy at 2.3L/100 km.
The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid is a plug-in hybrid liftback manufactured by Toyota. The first-generation model was produced from 2012 to 2016. The second-generation model has been produced since 2016. Production of the third-generation model began in 2023.
Electric car use by country varies worldwide, as the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles is affected by consumer demand, market prices, availability of charging infrastructure, and government policies, such as purchase incentives and long term regulatory signals.
Government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles have been established around the world to support policy-driven adoption of plug-in electric vehicles. These incentives mainly take the form of purchase rebates, tax exemptions and tax credits, and additional perks that range from access to bus lanes to waivers on fees. The amount of the financial incentives may depend on vehicle battery size or all-electric range. Often hybrid electric vehicles are included. Some countries extend the benefits to fuel cell vehicles, and electric vehicle conversions.
The Ford Focus Electric is a 5-door hatchback electric car that was produced by Ford. The Focus Electric is Ford's second production all-electric vehicle, and was made from December 2011 to May 2018.
The University of Kansas Sustainable Automotive Energy Infrastructure Initiative, or more commonly referred to as the KU Ecohawks is an ongoing project that works to promote sustainability in the automotive sector. Founded during the beginning of the Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010 in the U.S., the group recycles old vehicles to run on community wastes and renewables, especially on the University of Kansas campus and not rely on conventional fossil fuel sources that pollute the local and global environment.
The adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in Germany is actively supported by the German Federal Government. Under its National Platform for Electric Mobility, Chancellor Angela Merkel set an initial goal in 2010 to deploy one million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020, which was achieved with a six months delay in July 2021. Initially, the government did not provide subsidies to promote sales of plug-in electric vehicles, however, by the end of 2014 it was recognized that the country was well behind the set sales targets. A purchase bonus scheme was approved in 2016, but premium cars were not eligible to the incentive. In order to meet the climate targets for the transport sector, in 2016 the government set the goal to have from 7 to 10 million plug-in electric cars on the road by 2030, and 1 million charging points deployed by 2030.
The stock of plug-in electric passenger cars in Canada in use totaled 141,060 units at the end of 2019, consisting of 78,680 all-electric cars and 62,380 plug-in hybrids. Sales totaled 50,960 units in 2019.
The stock of plug-in electric vehicles in California is the largest in the United States, and as of December 2023, cumulative plug-in car registrations in the state since 2010 totaled 1.77 million units. Between November 2016 and until 2020, China was the only country market that exceeded California in terms of cumulative plug-in electric car sales.
The second generation Honda Fit is a subcompact car or supermini manufactured by Honda from 2007 until 2014. It debuted on 17 October 2007 at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show.
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