Google said Tuesday it is getting in on the development of electric vehicles, awarding $1 million in grants and inviting applicants to bid for another $10 million in funding to develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles capable of getting 70 to 100 miles per gallon.The project, called the RechargeIT initiative and run from Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, aims to further the development of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles - cars or trucks that have both a gasoline engine and advanced batteries that recharge by plugging into the nation's electric grid.

Google (Charts, Fortune 500) also said it has turned on its massive solar panel installation at the company's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters.
At 1.6 megawatts, Google said it's the biggest solar project on a corporate campus in the United States, and one of the largest in the world.