Google searching for hybrid car

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 20 (UPI) -- U.S. search engine Google said it is jumping on the electric vehicle development bandwagon by offering grants and seeking applications to develop the hybrid.

The project, RechargeIT, will run through Google's philanthropic division, Google.org in Mountain View, Calif. It seeks to develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with both a gasoline engine and batteries that can be recharged by plugging into the nation's electric grid, CNN Money reported Tuesday.

"Since most Americans drive less than 35 miles per day, you easily could drive mostly on electricity with the gas tank as a safety net," Dan Reicher, director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for Google.org, said on the Web site. "In preliminary results from our test fleet, on average the plug-in hybrid gas mileage was 30-plus mpg higher than that of the regular hybrids."

Traditional auto manufacturers also are working on an electric hybrid. General Motors promised a plug-in hybrid version of its Saturn Vue SUV but hasn't set production date. The company is also working toward a production version of its Chevrolet Volt. Ford Motor Co. also is developing a plug-in hybrid demo vehicle based on the Ford Edge SUV.