Google seems to be on a serious renewable energy roll this month. After the recent announcement to invest $5 million in renewable energy in Germany, last week out came an announcement that the web giant has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and more than 80 stakeholders to use Google Maps as a platform to give up-to-date information on the location of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations across the country.
The partnership is part of the Department of Energy’s drive to promote electric vehicles. For that purpose, it recently made available $5 million in new funding for community-based efforts to deploy EV infrastructure and charging stations. The announcement was made by Secretary Chu and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood during a conference call with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, and St. Paul Mayor Christopher Coleman, who are leaders of three of the nation’s nearly 100 Clean Cities Coalitions.
As we have previously reported here, electric vehicles have become more popular with the launch of models such as the Nissan Leaf and Ford’s Focus. Initiatives like this are consistent with market changes towards a greener transport network and part of a wider move to reduce U.S. oil imports by one-third by 2025.
Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.
