Project Better Place is an intriguing concept…their Mission (which is simple and easy to remember) is to make the world a better place, one electric car at a time. Outside of the fact that this is an ambitious project what I find very curious is how they plan on selling recharging as a subscription-based service.
They are looking at the Total Cost of Ownership of the vehicle, service, fueling (charging)… extremely innovative and a requirement to support the infrastructure that they will have to build (my guess).
I want to get their CEO, Shai Agassi on our CEO Insights show – anyone know him?
Depending on your viewpoint, I suppose Agassi could either be considered one of the world’s great salesmen, or one of its
great frauds. For sure the concept of swappable batteries, which Agassi clothed in misleading verbage about cell phones and other irrelevant business model gobblygook, is not a concept, simpe though it is, and discredited as it has become, that Agasssi would ever have come up with. Fortunately for Afgassi, he is dealing with politicians desperate to get rid of oil depdendencies, as we all are, but totally ignorant of the means to do so. You would think that israel’s leaders would have heard of plug-in hybrids, and realize that a means of destroying gasoline usage is at most a few years away. Apparently not. So now they will pay thru the nose for a very inefficient means of supposedly overcoming the high cost of batteries (thru amortization in the form of fuel/lease monthly payments) and driving range limitations (via swapping) using Agassi’s apparently monopolistic company. Denmark has also signed on, but they are morons anyway – just look closely at the economic and environmental hell they have created with windmills. Aside form the fact that you don’t need to swap batteries (or ensure that all miles driven were powered by electricity) in order to eliminate gasoline, the major inefficiencies
of Aghassi’s scheme are 1) a monumental infrastructure that is tied to a technology sure to be made obsolete in the near future; 2) an increase in the already way-too-expensive-to-built-all-electrics battery costs by requiring way more than 100 battery packs for each 100 customers. The scheme is a total oxymoron, but all this is new technology and you can get away with cons rather easily – just take a look at the ZAP electric car company, a company that has sold lots of franchises, announced lots of new models, and built none.
One thing Agassi has going for him in Israel and Denmark – both countries are so small that even the limited driving ranges of the EVs they are to be provided aren’t totally inadequate. I doubt that battery swapping even makes any sense in these cases, since li ions exists that can get to 85% charge in a few minutes. If teh EEStor evices that ZENN Mortor recently announced are what he claims, Agassi’s cars and scheme become totally and immediately obsolete. Since the ZENN will be out in 2009 Fall, and Agassi’s renaults not available until later, I predict a quick demise of Agassi’s short lived, impractical scheme. You know, the one he stole from someone else and renamed.
It is very rare that I actually comment in person on other’s negative comments, but Kent really has put some nasty comments out there with nothing to back them up.
1) We would never claim or take a mnopoly – we are ending one of the biggest monopolies on earth (Oil), using open and fair access to our network
2) When you run the actual calculation on how many times people will actually need to replace batteries, and understand that the number is lower than the number of times we fill up gasoline, you will also understand how low is the ratio of extra batteries we need to keep
3) Batteries cost cheaper than gasoline when you take into consideration their entire life. We are not greedy, and as such w pass back significant part of the savings back to the subscriber in the form of an upfront discount on the car
4) Plug-In hybrids need the same set of country wide connectors to charge up electricity when parked (or theybecome a really inefficient small engine car with large empty batteries. We suggest a different means for extending the range of the battery – instead of carrying a big engine with generator inside the car, replace the battery with a device that is outside the car. The cost of the extra engine and generator is more than 10x the cost of the infrastructure per car (and the car owners need to pay for the range extensions in plug in hybrids on day one…)
5) The monumental infrastructure you talk about is not as monumental as you try to make it sound. We are dealing with a lot of money, but we are dealing with comparatively low amounts when looking at ending a 130 years ofcar infrastructure.
6) When you get that battery from EEStor, or that car from ZENN that charges up 200 miles in 5 minutes try to hold that current into the battery and feel the power…to charge 50kWh (which is what you need for 200 miles) in 5 minutes – you need to connect a 500KW line to your car. Stand back when you do it, and take your metal out of your pocket…btw, if that battery can take 500 KW it can also discharge 500 KW in one shot – be outside the car when it does so.
6) Next time you want to provide a reputational analysis on someone’s plans, please make sure you understand the science, real intent, business model or for goodness sake just leave the venom at home. We are trying to do something positive, so stay positive yourself, cheer if you want to or just stay out of the way – no need to be so negative.
Well Done Shai….
For Every Negative person you will come across there will be thousands waiting to see your idea bear fruits…
I wish you all the best and hope that your plans succeed.