A proud partner in the Workplace Charging Challenge
January 31st, 2013 | Published in Google Public Policy
Cross-posted from the Google Green Blog
At Google, we believe that plug-in vehicles are game-changers in the effort to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation, improve air quality, and increase the adoption of intermittent renewable energy sources. That’s why we’re excited to join the U.S. Department of Energy’s Workplace Charging Challenge, an initiative to increase the number of employers offering workplace charging by tenfold in five years.
Google has been dedicated to the promise of electric vehicles since 2007, when we outfitted a small fleet of Priuses and Escape Hybrids with homegrown dataloggers and installed an EV solar carport at our HQ in Mountain View. Our employees eagerly adopted the new technology, and we soon launched a corporate carshare program, called GFleet. GFleet provides Googlers with a low-carbon transportation option once they get to the office using alternative transportation (for instance, the Google shuttle, walking, biking, or carpooling). To date Googlers have driven GFleet vehicles over a quarter of a million miles.
To support GFleet and encourage Googlers to buy their own plug-ins, Google offers free on campus charging in Mountain View and eight additional office locations in the U.S. Now with more than 300 stations across the country, we’ve built the largest corporate charging infrastructure in the country.
We’re delighted to help drive progress in this space, and invite others to join the charge towards more EV infrastructure, cleaner air, and a sustainable future.