What does a big name like Google do with their money when they have lots of it? Yup, they plan to invest it for the betterment and of course, for the profits. Internet search giant Google hopes to pace-up the development of plug-in hybrid cars by giving away millions of dollars to the companies that have practical ways to get plug-ins to market faster.

Last Monday at the Google headquarters in Mountain valley, California; the money announced was just $1million so far with another $10 million pledged, which might not be enough to do the desired. Auto development is excruciatingly expensive, especially when it’s about the kind of advanced battery and powertrain technology used in plug-in hybrids. Bringing a plug-in hybrid to the market could cost hundreds of million dollars to the automakers.

As told by Google.org’s Dan Reicher, Google is not going to get into the business of building and selling hybrid electrics. The main focus is to speed-up their development through research, testing and investment.

Plug-in hybrids have bigger-capacity batteries than regular gasoline-electric hybrids, so they can go farther using the battery-powered electric motor before they need to switch to the gasoline engine for more power or to recharge the batteries. Plug-ins, as the name implies, can be recharged by plugging them into normal household grid, thus trimming even more the need for the internal-combustion engine.

For plug-ins, which will no longer be a dream, only lithium-ion batteries will work because they are smaller and lighter than today’s nickel metal hydride hybrid batteries.
According to Mary Ann Wright, CEO of Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions (JCS), “A plug-in with a 20- or 30- or 40-mile range, you’re going to have your whole vehicle filled with nickel metal hydride.”

Beyond being costly, lithium-ion battery packs have their own drawbacks. In sizes big enough for automotive uses, they generate considerable heat and require special cooling. Again all cells in the battery pack have to be operated identically or fail-safe systems shut down the battery pack.

GM has contracted with JCS, which is a joint venture between U.S. component supplier Johnson Controls and French battery maker Saft, to develop lithium-ion for GM’s Saturn Vue Greenline SUV, a plug-in that would go about 10 miles solely on battery power before the internal-combustion engine kicks in.

Other automakers are researching plug-in hybrids, and some individuals and companies are modifying hybrids into plug-in vehicles. Google claims it has a small fleet of Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrids modified into plug-ins and is recording 71miles per gallon, vs. 41 mpg from its ordinary Prius hybrids.

Google predicts the future of the ‘plug-ins’:

• Mass production by the automakers.

• Fuel tanks filled not with gasoline but with bio-fuels, such as ethanol, for the internal-combustion engines to use when necessary.

• Solar carports, where plug-ins could recharge from power generated by the sun.

• Vehicle-to-grid links. The growing number of plug-in hybrid owners could sell the power stored in their cars’ batteries to utility companies using special hookups to the utilities’ power grid. Google believes utilities would be happy to buy that instead of paying very high prices for additional electricity during peak demand.

Google.org announced $1.05 million to advocate research vehicle-to-grid technology, to promote federal policy that encourages plug-ins and to educate people about it. The organization says it will invest approximately $10 million in technologies and companies featuring the application of renewable energy and fuels to green vehicles.

The company definitely is not going into the business of building and selling hybrid electrics since the main focus is on accelerating the development through investment.

Nevertheless, the technology is ready and needs only a commitment from an automaker to use significant numbers of lithium-ion batteries.

Image : Nrel

Via : Usatoday