Google isn't going to start producing cars but they are spending millions of dollars to help develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that can get up to 100 miles per gallon.
Google has awarded 1 million dollars in grants and will offer an additional 10 million dollars in funding.
The one million dollars in Google grants went to Brookings Institution to run a conference on plug-ins, CalCars and Plug-In America to educate the public about plug-ins, and the Electrical Power Research Institute, the Rocky Mountain Institute and Dr. Willett Kempton from the University of Delaware for plug-in research and development.
This is being done by Google's philanthropic division and is called the RechargeIT initiative. Google is interested in the production of cars or trucks that have both a gasoline engine and advanced batteries that recharge by plugging into the nation's electric grid.
More details are in this article
Google pushes 100-mpg car - Jun. 19, 2007