Evatran Installs Plugless Power Charging Unit for Autos at Google Headquarters

Google (News - Alert) is among the first businesses to try out a plugless charging station for electric cars at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, according to media reports.

Known as Plugless Power, it is a system that charges electric vehicles (EV) and hybrids by a hands-free, technology. It has neither a cord nor a plug.

Plugless Power was developed by Evatran. It operates on “inductive technology,” which is used in electrical transformers.

“We are thrilled to have our first public release of the Plugless Power technology installed at Google’s headquarters,” Tom Hough, co-founder and CEO of Plugless Power, said in a company statement. “The interest shown by Google and the cooperation we’ve received to retrofit their EV(s) provides evidence that a simple, convenient charging process is needed for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.”

On its corporate campus, Google has several low-speed, electric vehicles, as well as plug-in vehicles used in its car-sharing program for employees.

Hough said that the installation at Google is a major step to bring the technology to commercial customers.

A car gets charged when it is parked over the device, explains a report from ZDNet.

“The proximity charging system guards against forgetting to recharge, tripping hazards, and inclement weather while also redefining electric vehicle recharging as just another automatic process that can easily be acclimated into a wireless, self-cleaning, user-free life,” according to information on the company’s website.

In addition, Evatran is looking for other corporations and municipalities to use the Plugless Power technology during this year. Many kinds of EVs can use Plugless Power through a retrofit.

In addition, Evatran is working with auto makers to bring Plugless Power into mass-market EVs by next year.

In other Google news, TMCnet reported that the U.S. Senate may follow the example of colleagues from Europe and launch an antitrust investigation to see whether Google is unfairly favoring its own sites in search results.