Google philanthropy funds Aptera and ActaCell

Aptera's two-seater Type-1 is classified as a motorcycle on the road.

(Credit: Aptera)

Google.org is investing $2.75 million into electric-vehicle maker Aptera and battery start-up ActaCell. The announcement, which follows Google's request for proposals from companies with electric car technologies, came Tuesday during the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose, Calif.

Aptera of Carlsbad, Calif., makes street-legal three-wheelers with a unique, aerodynamic design. The company aims to sell its Typ-1 model for less than $30,000 by the end of year. It's marketing a pure electric as well as a gas electric plug-in hybrid achieving more than 200 miles per gallon. The vehicles are supposed to accelerate to 60 miles per hour within 10 seconds, drive 120 miles on a full charge, and recharge from a 110-volt outlet.

ActaCell of Austin, Tex., aims to develop long-lasting lithium-ion batteries. On Wednesday it announced $5.8 million in series A financing led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and including Google.org, Applied Ventures, and Good Energies. The company has not yet publicly disclosed details about its technology.

To help speed up the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric cars, the search giant's philanthropy launched the RechargeIt initiative in June 2007.

Google's Mountain View, Calif., campus offers plug-in hybrid Toyota Priuses for employees making short, work-related trips. The hybrids achieve 90 miles per gallon and were converted with kits from A123 Systems' Hymotion.

[theBike45]

I wonder how people will view the Google venture capitalists when they learn that these Apteras could just as easily be called squashmobiles. There's only one reason anyone designs a three-wheeled vehicle - to avoid federal safety regulations by claiming to them it's a "motorcycle" while presenting it to the public fraudulently as a "car." Drivers of these things will soon be crushed in minor accidents, the company will be sued on a class action basis, will fold and Google's money will be paid to the survivors. The company doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.

[anderwz12]

Just so that we're all on the same page, do you work for a car manufacturer, oil company, or a major insurance company? Do you drive an old 11 mpg pick-up truck? I just want to know what motivates you to spit on a green initiative such as this one?

Maybe it's not perfect. Maybe there is some fuzzying of the line, as all great marketing machines do, from time to time. However, let's not short-change the effort being made, here. Any company that makes a 90 mpg car (the Prius) available to its employees is certainly doing its part to save the planet and make life affordable for its employees.

As for this tricycle/small car, I agree that a lightweight vehicle built on a less stable platform than a traditional 4-wheel chassis can seem, well, risky, but the darn thing is reputed to bring triple-digit mpg gas consumption. Doesn't that deserve less desperation and conspiracy in your response?

Maybe this will foster a movement to smaller vehicles overall - maybe the Prius will be the big luxury car of the future with Sparrows, this Google-funded three-wheeler, and Smart cars being the norm. If we can produce more electricity with sun and wind, and pipe that into convenient commuters cars, to reduce emissions and stave off the ridiculous price of oil, why the heck not look at a brave new future of smaller commuters cars for everyone?

[O-Really]

Wow 'Bike', thanks for looking out for the silly public who might have bought into this vehicle if you had not shared your wisdom. Oh and I am sure Google will be slapping their foreheads and saying "Oh my god, stop payment on the check!". Seriously, if you are so worried about being squashed by all means keep driving your hummer or jacked up 4 wheel drive. The Saudis and Hugo Chavez appreciate your business. For my part, rather than banning small cars because they are likely to be squashed by the oversized tanks that Americans have been convinced to love, perhaps we should ask the nanny state to ban the tanks from the road in the name of public safety?