http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/te...html?th&emc=th
Quote:
Google and Pacific Gas & Electric have unveiled their vision of a future in which cars and trucks are partly powered by the country’s electric grids, and vice versa.
The companies displayed on Monday six Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrid vehicles modified to run partly on electricity from the power grid, allowing the vehicles to go up to 75 miles on a gallon of gas, nearly double the number of miles of a regular hybrid. They also modified one vehicle to give electricity back to the power company.
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I think the idea at work here is that solar panels in this case, or the entire electrical grid at some future period, can be connected to the rechargeable batteries in a hybrid to both power the hybrids and be powered by them. In their test case, the one Prius that was able to supply power back to the grid was described as a 'more-speculative' project, but the rest is being portrayed as a significant step on the road to plug-ins. The philanthropic branch of Google states that it plans to invest $10 million in these areas (plug-ins, battery technology, and the two-way power supply).
Plug-in Hybrids from Google and PG&E
