Coulomb Technologies announced that Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has deployed more than 70 electric vehicle charging stations managed by the ChargePoint® Network at its worldwide headquarters in Mountain View, CA. The charging stations are used by employee-owned electric vehicles, as well as the company’s growing car sharing program for Googlers (GFleet), which includes Chevrolet Volts and Nissan LEAFs. With plans for 250 more charging stations on its campus, and a goal to make 5 percent of its campus parking EV-ready, Google’s installation is the largest workplace charging installation for electric vehicles in the country. Google has created a video on their Green Blog detailing their green transportation initiatives.
“By investing in new, green transportation technologies, Google is making a significant contribution to reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions,” said Rolf Schreiber technical program manager, Electric Transportation, at Google. “Our EVs and charging stations are part of our broader green transportation system that includes biodiesel shuttles that Googlers use to commute to work instead of driving their own cars. But we’re only one company among many, so we hope our green transportation initiatives serve as a model for other companies to incorporate sustainability programs into their own workplaces.”
Google manages its charging stations via the ChargePoint Network, the world’s largest network of charging stations and EV charging applications. The following workplace charging features are available through Coulomb’s ChargePoint Network:
- Controlled access: Via an online portal and smartcards, customers can control who accesses their charging stations (employees or guests), to control costs, eliminate electricity theft, and optimize station use.
- Measuring performance of green initiatives: Online station management provides tracking and reporting of energy usage, greenhouse gas and gasoline savings data. Reports are displayed by graphs that can be filtered by day, week, month, station attributes and energy usage/GHG range. Customers can also export their station data and combine the data with other system for further corporate sustainability analysis.
- Network Operations: The ChargePoint Network provides 24/7 station network monitoring to ensure network services are always available, Over the Air (OTA) station software upgrades to accommodate future advancements without onsite service, and the ability to tie into energy, building and other business management systems.
- Driver Services: Customers have access to the ChargePoint Network’s 24/7 driver telephone assistance, e-mail or text message driver notification alerts for charging session interruption or charging completed, and individual driver portals to customize notifications, track their energy usage and greenhouse gas savings, view charging history, and have access to the largest network of public charging stations in the world at www.mychargepoint.net
- Cost-saving utility programs and incentives: Charging stations contain utility-grade meters and the ability to communicate with other smart grid systems, enabling demand response, time-of-use pricing, and other smart grid programs provided by local utilities.
“Google continues to drive innovation and leadership in the workplace. The results of their clean transportation efforts are remarkable, taking the equivalent of over 2000 cars off the road every day,” said Bret Sewell, Coulomb Executive Vice President. “We are proud that the ChargePoint Network plays a key role in this success by providing Google a complete electric vehicle charging solution.”
The company has been working over the last several years to deploy and experiment with new green transportation technologies.
- In 2007, Google launched RechargeIT, an initiative aimed at accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles.
- Google’s biodiesel campus shuttles use the latest clean diesel technology, reducing emissions 80 percent over engines from just a few years ago.
- Placing solar panels on buses to provide pre-cooling without having to run the engines.
- More than 3000 Googlers ride a shuttle bus to the company’s Mountain View headquarters every day.
- Google’s ChargePoint workplace charging system encourages more and more employees to commute using electric transportation.
