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EVWORLD TELEVISION |
Better Place Places Historic Order
By EV World Television
Better Place Founder and CEO Makes Historic Announcement in Germany
An obviously nervous Shai Agassi took the stage at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show this morning to announce the largest single order for electric cars in history and the largest mass order for any car since the Ford Model T. Working with his automaker partner Renault, who itself introduced four battery electric vehicles a few minutes earlier, Better Place has ordered 100,000 electric cars that will begin to be deployed first in Israel and Denmark starting in 2011. To be followed by Australia and other countries expected to sign onto Better Place's innovative program modeled after the celullar telephone service and not the traditional buy or lease concept.
In addition, the company has placed a similarly-sized order with Flextronics for 100,000 electric charging stations, which will begin to be installed, again first in Israel and Denmark, in 2010. By 2011, he anticipates the Better Place network, which includes smart grid charging and other intelligent driving technologies, will be in place and serving a growing list of customers who don't buy the cars, but pay on a subscription service for the miles they drive.
Agassi is convinced that in the countries where Better Place is deployed, 50% of all new cars put into service will be electric by 2020, rather than the far more conservative projections of 10 percent by the same year. He tells the assembled media that the Frankfurt auto show will be remembered as the tipping point in the resurrection of the electric car, and that by the next show in 2011, real customers will be driving real cars using Better Place's network.
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Reader Comments
6 comments so far...
16-Sep-2009
68022
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It is firmly believed with the help of "instant remote recharge" , called "revalution" , by Indian EV maker Reva and a pioneer Agassi and so forth, the EV world has dawned a brand-new morn for all around the world to live in peace and harmony.
Posted by: hsr0601 han
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19-Sep-2009
68069
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1. Batteries will become more efficient on the whole and their price will drop, whereas the oil will simply go up and up as it becomes more scarce. As simple as that.
2. The range of noticeable EVs are sufficient to meet the daily driving needs of more than 95% of drivers ((The vast majority of people (95%) drive less than 100/km a day, 82% of the respondents said they drive 40 miles or less a day, with an average daily driving distance of 27 miles.)).
3. I'm hopeful that the charge network will extend the select districts to nation-wide scale throughout the world, and this environment can usher in active private investings in EVs.
4. I remain confident that it could give rise to multiple times as much investing effect, so to speak, some billions of investing, this simple deployment, could call into the most-sought energy independence and solid recovery around the world.
Posted by: hsr0601 han
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17-Sep-2009
68031
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...."it is firmly believed..."
yeah and dwarves and elves will live in peace and harmony... really now - with the collapse of certain markets, wars and trade wars there will be no peace and harmony. The echnology IS wonderful, but we have heard of other technologies that will also make everyone live in peace and harmony watch for th comdex presentations yet to be disclosed.. Private ventures fro the "Idea" country the USA will be presented and stunning in terms of its utilization - ...
Keep your eye on the world, but don't discount the USA.
:) God Bless
Posted by: melinda rains
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18-Sep-2009
68040
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I have read that Israel and Denmark will be almost ideal venues to deploy these cars and their batteries in, considering the distances, climates, and motorists' needs. If the system works well in these countries, it will be easy to pick out similar sized regions in North America--Mexico, Canada, and Stateside...For long trips, people who own or lease these cars cud obtain a special rental-discount card which wud allow them to fly or travel by ship, train, bus to a distant, similar 'zone' and rent/use a similar car while at their destination, then return it and return home and begin using their car again?..
Another thot: If rail services provide auto-carriers or 'drive-on' flatcars, one can take the train--and bring their car, too!..Aaron Allen...
Posted by: Aaron Allen
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23-Sep-2009
68101
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After talking to Better Place at the IAA, I feel that the combination of services they will offer will be a big winner.
1. Battery Swap Concept,
Although I personally have my reservations about swapping batteries, I believe that this will be a big success in the lower range vehicles. Because the swappable battery will be leased or rented, this will greatly reduce the purchase price for entry-level EVs. Without battery, the EV should be much less expensive than any gasoline car !
For high-performance EVs, the swappable battery is probably not a good concept. Packaging becomes problematic, and the choice of battery is actually defining most of the performance and image of the car. People are already calling the Tesla Roadster the "Battery on Wheels". Sales price is much less important in this segment.
2. Charging network
Besides the battery swap service, they will also offer dedicated charging points at the same locations for EVs with fixed batteries. You can park your car there and get access to a high-power grid connection. As soon as fast chargers become available, Better Place will be the first that can offer the required grid access.
Besides the benefits for the EV-user, the utility companies also benefit from Better Place services. They can reserve one high-power connection (hundreds of kilowatts) to supply power to the Better Place service station. The investment will be low (compared to rolling out a city-wide high-power grid) and is is easy to manage. On top of that, should there be any load peak, it's easily to tell that particular service point to briefly interrupt or reduce the charging until the peak passes.
So in this way, a high concentration of EV-charging could actually be a benefit to the network operator.
So my compliments to Mr. Shai Agassi and his team, and I'll be banging on the doors of Renault and such alike to try and sell power electronics components for EV.
Posted by: Dirk Lunter
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23-Sep-2009
68106
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Theme : Addressing Range Anxieties.
1. As for long trip needs, all but Americans and many of developed nations have existing automobiles, in this regard, EVs are best suited to their daily use until the infrastructure comes into wide use. And people are already doing that.
2. With a long extension code inside, just in case, riders can get help from almost anyplace as electricity is everywhere, not to mention the stores to provide charge service, and many of EVs are equipped with a quick charger.
3. The on-board IT system shows the driving radius on a maximum range display under the current state of charge and calculates if the vehicle is within range of a pre-set destination. And the navigation system points out the latest information on available charging stations within the current driving range.
4. Unlike fuel price, as time goes by, the price of battery is expected to drop dramatically in the foreseeable future as with computer components, in that case, mounting additional battery might be not a problem. And the EVs that come in a range of 200 to 300 miles between charges are on fast-tract toward mass-market, as well.
5. Indian EV maker Reva said it has also set about addressing anxieties about e-car range, this fantastic wireless electricity/ "instant remote recharge" will be widely available down the line.
6. The vehicle-to-grid communication technology is helping the battery serve as a storage to prevent the costly blackout standing at about $90 to 100bn per year. That means utilities are shedding cost for additional storage facilities and ratepayers are selling electricity during peak demand so that EVs can make more economic sense, as we know.
It is also in the best interest of electricity utilities that EVs are going mainstream, thereby they need to put in charge stands where needed around highways, major roads with card readers or cell phone tech.
7. I'm hopeful that the charge network will extend the select districts to nation-wide scale throughout the world, and this environment can usher in active private investings in EVs. And I remain confident that investing in charge stands could give rise to multiple times as much investing effect, so to speak, some billions of investing, this simple deployment, could call into the most-sought energy independence and solid recovery around the world.
Thank You !
Posted by: hsr0601 han
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