Google goes where Detroit dares not.
Well, the US car manufacturers aren't investing in making electrical cars. The Japanese are, but they're still tying things to gasoline. So who to step up to the plate? Er... Google? Apparently so:According to people briefed on the program, the organization, called Google.org, plans to develop an ultra-fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid car engine that runs on ethanol, electricity and gasoline.
Well, they have a lot of money to throw around, and apparently their parking lot has plug in points for every parking space. They probably got sick of waiting for that investment to finally pay off, so figured they might as well just develop the cars themselves.
There is a comment in that blog entry I link to that sounds weird - that it's a "for profit" charity. But this actually makes a lot of sense. There are serious restrictions on what a non-profit can do in the US. Making a charitable for profit removes those restrictions - you just get taxed into the bargain. But they can do direct development. Want to make a vaccine and sell it at cost? A non-profit can't do that, they need to fund a for profit company's research (who then rake it in selling the product). But creating something that you're then going to sell at a reasonable price? A for profit can do that. It'll be interesting to see if this works out - Google can afford to pay the taxation and just do what it wants to do. Good luck to them. Especially if I get that sodding plug in hybrid I've been wanting for the last 3 years at the end of it.
Well, they have a lot of money to throw around, and apparently their parking lot has plug in points for every parking space. They probably got sick of waiting for that investment to finally pay off, so figured they might as well just develop the cars themselves.
There is a comment in that blog entry I link to that sounds weird - that it's a "for profit" charity. But this actually makes a lot of sense. There are serious restrictions on what a non-profit can do in the US. Making a charitable for profit removes those restrictions - you just get taxed into the bargain. But they can do direct development. Want to make a vaccine and sell it at cost? A non-profit can't do that, they need to fund a for profit company's research (who then rake it in selling the product). But creating something that you're then going to sell at a reasonable price? A for profit can do that. It'll be interesting to see if this works out - Google can afford to pay the taxation and just do what it wants to do. Good luck to them. Especially if I get that sodding plug in hybrid I've been wanting for the last 3 years at the end of it.