Google Vision

Using buildings to power vehicles is a rich way to press the Problem with Oil, because it puts the Solution within reach.  How close?  Google is doing it.  Took it from talk to action:  six of Google’s fleet are plug-in hybrids, and soon there will be 100, powered by solar.

     

What’s more, the non-profit google.org put up $11 million “to fund development, adoption and commercialization of plug-ins, fully electric cars and related vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology,”  with first round funding going to such vanguards of the movement as CalCars, Plug-in America, RMI and the University of Delaware.

    

Good companies strike a balance between their business and social responsibilities.  There are dividends for those who do it well.  Google presumably enjoys better employee recruiting, productivity and retention (they top the Fortune 100 best places to work; employees seem energized by their RechargeIt.org effort), and good standing among business partners, customers, and the communities within which it operates.

Toyota, which joins the Solution when they begin producing the plug-in, also puts socially responsible thinking at its core.  The first item in Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America’s Mission Statement is:  “1. As an American company, contribute to the economic growth of the community and the United States.”  Their focus is their external stakeholders (the community), not their stockholders.

Google and Toyota are setting us up.  If others can grasp the business opportunity within the Problem with Oil, and of operating in a socially responsible manner, the Solution can be delivered right here, right now.

   

Photo:  Jeffrey Veen  

Comments

[Renee]

Electric Car Companies Ready to Take over the Road
http://venturebeat.com/2008/01/10/27-electric-cars-companies-ready-to-take-over-the-road

I do not know if you have seen the article that compiles a list of 27 (comments got the list to 30) electric car startups, listed according to their release date, with additional information on fuel type, range, top speed and price.

The list as well as the comments are very interesting.