Google is making big moves into clean tech, first by plunging $100 million into the world’s biggest wind farm and then announcing plans to work on electric vehicle infrastructure.

On Tuesday, the Energy Department said it was teaming up  with the Internet giant and others to help drivers find charging stations around the country.

Google will partner with the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory to use Google Maps as a foundation to create an online database of all charging stations, to be used as a data source for GPS and mapping services.

The day before, Google said it had invested $100 million in the 845-megawatt Shepherds Flat Wind Farm under construction near Arlington, Ore.

The installation, developed by Caithness Energy with General Electric turbines, is set to finish in 2012. The power produced there will be sold to Southern California Edison.

So far, Google has invested more than $350 million in clean energy projects, including in a German photovoltaic plant as well as the BrightSource Ivanpah solar installation on the eastern edge of San Bernardino County.

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Photo: A sign at Google Inc.'s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Credit: Tony Avelar / Bloomberg

Microsoft Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. announced Wednesday that they were teaming to build a cloud-based telematics system that would handle GPS, energy management and multimedia applications in Toyota cars.

The system will be build on Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud-computing platform and will be available in select Toyota cars beginning in 2012, said Celeste Migliore, a Toyota spokeswoman.

"We'll start out with our Toyota hybrid and plug-in vehicles in 2012, but we are keeping all of our options open," Migliore said. "The system could make its way to other vehicles and lines, we'll have to see."

Toyota also makes vehicles under the Lexus and Scion brands.

As part of Microsoft and Toyota's partnership in developing the new telematics system, the companies will invest a total of about $12 million in Toyota Media Service Co., a Toyota-owned subsidiary that handles the automaker's digital information services. Microsoft and Toyota did not offer a breakdown of how that investment would be split between the two companies.

The goal of the project is to build a "complete global cloud platform by 2015 that will provide affordable and advanced telematics services to Toyota automotive customers around the world," Microsoft and Toyota said in a joint statement.

The system will also have smart-grid features that Toyota is testing in Japan that will allow cars to interact with homes and other mobile devices so that users can control and plan their energy consumption.

Toyota believes that "as electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles become more popular, such systems will rely more on telematics services for achieving efficient energy management," the company said in its statement.

Microsoft has had some recent success with telematics systems, such as its Microsoft Sync system in Ford vehicles that allows users to make phone calls, get directions, manage multimedia libraries and tap into data from smart phones and computers.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, said in the statement that the new system's development "further validates the power of the cloud."

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

twitter.com/nateog

Sebastian Thrun is on a mission to get people out of the driver's seat.

"As a boy, I loved cars. When I turned 18, I lost my best friend to a car accident, like this," Thrun said, snapping his fingers before an audience at the TED 2011 conference in Long Beach last month. "And then I decided I'd dedicate my life to saving 1 million people every year. Now, I haven't succeeded, so this is just a progress report. But I need to tell you a little bit about self-driving cars."

Thrun is a Stanford University robotics professor and a project leader on Google's Driverless Car effort -- a system that enables cars to drive on their own, safely, without human input. So far, Google's driverless cars have safely logged more than 140,000 miles on California roads, Thrun said in his TED Talk presentation, which can be seen in the video below.

While Thrun's contributions to the Google project are personally motivated, the engineer believes that the technology can eradicate traffic jams and curb fuel consumption, as well as save humans now-wasted time and prevent needless deaths.

"Now, I can't get my friend Harold back to life, but I can do something for all the people who've died," Thrun said at TED. "Did you know that driving accidents are the No. 1 cause of death for young people? And do you realize that almost all of those are due to human error and not machine error and can therefore be prevented by machines?

"Do you realize that we could change the capacity of highways by a factor of two or three if we didn't rely on human precision on staying in the lane but on robotic precision, and thereby drive a little bit closer together on a little bit narrower lanes and do away with all traffic jams on highways?" 

Thrun said he foresees a future in which driverless cars become the norm.

"I'm really looking forward to a time when generations after us look back and say how ridiculous it was that humans were driving cars."

A nod goes to Autoblog, which uncovered the YouTube video of Thrun's TED speech Tuesday.

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Image: A Toyota Prius equipped with Google's Driverless Car technology drives in San Francisco. Credit: Google / TED

Chevrolet will debut its new Malibu sedan simultaneously on its Facebook page, Apple's iPads and iPhones and in-person at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 18.

After the new Malibu is revealed, Chevy will then take questions about the new 'Bu on Twitter -- as long as those questions contain the #MalibuReveal hashtag.

The social media-minded approach is a bit different for Chevrolet and its parent company, General Motors, said David Darovitz, a GM spokesman.

"This is the first time we've had a global strategy that is inclusive of social networking platforms around the world, as well as streaming video worldwide, and streaming video iPads and iPhones, all in addition to the in-person reveal in China and traditional media outreach we've always used," Darovitz said.

"I can't tell you just how we'll stream to iPads and iPhones, because we don't want our competitors to know yet, but it won't require its own app."

The motive for the social networking shift -- simply the popularity of sites and apps such as Facebook and Twitter, he said.

"Social networking gives us a way to reach a lot of people, so that's one element and this car is a global car too," Darovitz said. "This is all part of a long-term plan for us."

The new Malibu is set to hit dealers next year as a 2013 model and it will be sold in about 100 countries on six continents, he said.

Last year, Chevrolet sold 4.26 million vehicles globally and eight of its top 10–selling markets were emerging markets -- Brazil, China, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Russia, India, Argentina and Colombia.

The company also offered up a photo on Facebook of the new Malibu's taillight, which takes cues from the Camaro.

"We'll be posting more photos of the new Malibu as we get closer to the reveal," Darovitz said. "Our Facebook page will be pretty active before and after Shanghai."

Chevy announced the Malibu's Facebook/iOS/Shanghai reveal on Thursday morning in a teaser video on YouTube that shows exterior designer Dan Gifford sketching the car on a tablet computer, and later spinning a Star Wars-esque hologram depicting the sedan's silhouette.

After Shanghai, the 2013 Malibu will be shown off stateside at the New York Auto Show, which runs from April 22 to May 1.

The unveiling of the new sedan will take place on April 18 at 5:30 p.m. PDT, 8:30 p.m. EDT and 8:30 a.m. on April 19 in China.

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Video: Dan Gifford announces Chevrolet will unveil the 2013 Malibu on Facebook. Credit: Chevrolet / YouTube

Image: Chevrolet's Facebook page. Credit: Chevrolet / Facebook

Photo: The taillight of the 2013 Malibu. Credit: General Motors

Adventurers try to trek across Australia all the time – but few attempt the journey in a wind-powered electric car.

Two Germans, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, recently wrapped up an 18-day drive that took them 3,000 miles along the southern Australian coast in a vehicle that used the breeze to juice up its battery.

The total electricity cost for the Wind Explorer vehicle came out to less than $15. In addition to an 8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, the car is equipped with a kite system and a portable wind turbine with a 20-foot bamboo mast.

The lightweight vehicle weighs less than 450 pounds, just 150 pounds heavier than Gion and Simmerer together. And with the aerodynamic design and low-friction tires, it can run at up to 50 mph.

The duo, who have also water skiied behind a cruise ship and climbed the Tibetan high plateau, left Perth on Jan. 21 to run some tests on the Wind Explorer.

They then set off from Albany on Jan. 26 and made their way to Sydney, occasionally slamming the kite into telephone lines by accident and dodging roadside trees.

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Photo credit: Buckle Up Productions, www.wind-explorer.com

Tesla Motors Inc. saw its loss increase 177% last year, the electric vehicle company said Tuesday.

The only public automaker in California, Palo Alto-based Tesla said its loss ballooned to $154.3 million in 2010 from $55.7 million in 2009.

The company's loss for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31 was $51.4 million, or 54 cents a share. That's more than double the $24.2 million, or $3.43 a share, for the same period in 2009, which had fewer outstanding shares.

Even after its initial public offering in June, Tesla has long struggled to convince investors that there’s substance behind the razzle-dazzle.

Just last week, the automaker opened stores in Italy and Washington, D.C. to great fanfare. The opening of the Milan showroom featured an extravagant gala with more than 400 guests. The company’s electric Roadster counts celebrities such as Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio among its fans.

But while Tesla sells the Roadster for more than $100,000, it only makes several hundred of the vehicles each year and has delivered just 1,500 total. Instead, chief executive Elon Musk is pinning his hopes for a profit on the upcoming Model S sedan.

Tesla plans to make 20,000 Model S units a year and will start selling the vehicles in the second half of 2012 for about $50,000 after government incentives. So far, the company has received more than 3,700 reservations for the vehicle and, in “the highlight of the quarter,” said it has finished making a drivable version for testing.

In 2010, Tesla’s revenue jumped to $116.7 million, up $4.8 million from the year before. In the fourth quarter, revenue was $36.3 million, a 95% improvement on the same quarter in 2009.

The company credited its lucrative partnership with Daimler, which ordered 1,800 sets of battery packs and chargers for the Smart Fortwo electric vehicle.

Tesla also hooked up with Toyota this quarter to make an electric version of the RAV 4 compact SUV, with sales pegged to start next year. The deal is expected to generate up to $69 million in development services revenue for Tesla over the next year or so.

Last month, the company also said that it planned to make a small sport utility vehicle called the Model X, set to arrive in 2014.

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AeroVironment Inc., the Monrovia maker of electric vehicle chargers, is planning to go national in a big way with a new distribution deal.

Milbank Manufacturing Co. of Kansas City, Mo., known for its electrical metering equipment, will sell AeroVironment chargers to its wide network of commercial, residential and industrial customers starting in March.

After plug-in vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf launched late last year, the industry responsible for setting up electric vehicle infrastructure has been buzzing.

AeroVironment, which also makes drone aircraft for the military, already inked a deal with Nissan to set up home charging stations for Leafs. It also paired up with NRG Energy Inc. to install a web of chargers around Houston.

Milbank will offer a range of AeroVironment chargers, including units for homes, offices, retail complexes, construction sites and more. Some docks will be able to charge multiple cars at once, while others will be able to juice up the vehicles in minutes instead of hours.

This is Milbank’s first foray into the electric vehicle support market, though the company already makes other clean-tech products such as small-scale wind turbines and portable generators.

“It’s very difficult for us to reach out to all of those people on our own,” said Aerovironment spokesman Steven Gitlin. “This is a very helpful complement to our direct sales effort and significantly expands our reach, getting us in front of a lot more folks.”

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Photo: AeroVironment quad-charger. Credit: AeroVironment Inc.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Ford is joining the plug-in parade, adding its Focus electric vehicle to a market that already includes the battery-powered Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt electric hybrid.

The five-passenger Focus also comes with a variety of telematics functions and smart-phone apps designed to help drivers keep the car juiced up.

The automaker revealed the hatchback for the first time at the electronics show in Las Vegas on Friday, saying that it was one of five Ford electric vehicles expected to hit the North American and European markets by 2013.

Ford chief executive Alan Mullaly, in his keynote address Friday, called the vehicle"more than just a car, just like an iPhone is more than just a phone...transformed from something we use into something that we experience."

The electric Focus, which will be built alongside its gasoline version in Michigan, will go up for sale later this year. The 23-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery can be fully recharged using a 240-volt system in roughly four hours, or about half the time required by the Leaf, Ford said.

The company also expects the Focus’ miles-per-gallon-equivalent rating to exceed the 60 mpge overall rating recently garnered by the Volt. The car, which will be able to reach a top speed of 84 mph, will also feature eco-friendly biofoam seat cushions and recycled fabrics.

The electric Focus will also come with a host of extras. Drivers will be able to check their battery charge  and range -– represented by blue butterflies -– on an in-vehicle screen.

The seats are made from entirely recycled materials, and the insulation comes from reused denim.

Audi is positioning itself as the maker of cars of the future -- specifically the Hollywood kind depicted in films such as "Minority Report" and "I, Robot."

Appropriate, then, that it was "I, Robot" actor James Cromwell who introduced Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler before his keynote address at CES on Thursday.

“Are we talking about science fiction or science fact?” Stadler asked the audience after driving onstage in a prototype of his company’s e-tron Spyder, a plug-in electric hybrid. The car will feature a 9.1-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery and a 13.2-gallon fuel tank. It will be able to drive 621 miles without a refill and roar from zero to 62 mph in 4.4 seconds.

Tesla and Fisker may be looking over their shoulders now that Audi has shown off a roster of other electric models in the works, such as the all-electric R8 e-tron, which is coming in late 2012. The car can go up to 124 mph and drive 115 miles on one charge.

“Mobility will require sustainability, especially in the future,” Stadler said.

General Motors has charging fever. Not long after it started delivering its hybrid electric Chevrolet Volt, the automaker announced a partnership at CES to wirelessly juice up consumer electronics in the car.

Israeli company Powermat, which makes a pad that can power up most gadgets lying on top, is the other half of the pair. The automaker is investing $5 million in the company through GM Ventures, its venture capital subsidiary.

The two also have an exclusive commercial agreement for GM to develop a way to embed the pad technology into the Volt initially and then into other GM models. That means drivers will be able to throw their smart phones, iPods and gaming devices directly onto the mat to boost the battery instead of hauling along a mess of cords and cables.

The integrated charging system will probably be available in the Volt sometime in 2012, said Micky Bly, GM’s executive director of vehicle engineering, in an interview.

“We’re placing our chips on all that kind of advanced technology, to get GM back as the starter on the cutting edge,” he said.

Speaking of the Volt, he said the automaker is looking into other clean car options such as fuel cells and is developing programs to look into all-electric vehicles.

“But the Volt is the absolute right solution for the majority of drivers,” he said. “We don’t want to badly engineer something just to have it out there. We’re in this game to win it.”

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Photo: A prototype mat in a Volt. Credit: Steve Fecht for General Motors