Google and more than 80 other companies are collaborating with
the Department of Energy to make it simple for drivers of
electric vehicles to find parts and charging sites. Via a
partnership called the GeoEVSE Forum, the organizations are
pooling their data to build a definitive database of all
available EV charging stations in the U.S. regardless of the
manufacturer or network, the DOE's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory said yesterday. The GPS and mapping system database
will also include all available electric vehicle supply
equipment (EVSE) stations. While the data will be organized
using Google mapping tools, it will be kept and managed by the
DOE Clean Cities Initiative and National Renewable Energy
Laboratory. It will be open to the public via the DOE's online
Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center. The online
center, which already lists 600 stations, is available to the
public as a database via the Alternative Fueling Station Locator
tool, as well as to third parties looking to downloa