Google to progress EV charging station search capabilities

22 Apr 2011

Google is teaming up with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to help consumers find charging stations in the US, while the DOE is also pumping an extra US$5m in new funding to help accelerate electric vehicle take-up.

With the Obama Administration aiming to reduce US oil imports by one-third by 2025, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced recently that US$5m in new funding will now be available for community-based efforts to deploy electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and charging stations.

As part of this EV push, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is joining with Google and various industry leaders to provide consumers with information about the EV charging stations in communities across the US, launching the GeoEVSE Forum.

Drawing on Google Maps, this new collaboration will co-ordinate an online network of all US charging stations and will serve as the primary data source for GPS and mapping services tracking electric vehicle charging locations, said the DOE.

To date, Google has been promoting the take-up of EVs in the US via its RechargeIT initiative.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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