Solving the Battery Problem
Batteries, and their ability to hold charge, be recharged, and their cost, are the single-most impeding factors to the feasibility of electric cars (pressure from the static oil and automative industries doesn't help either). While perusing Eddie's blog the other day, I came across Better Place, a startup company that is striving to make electric cars feasible. They propose an extensive infrastructure that will essentially replace the gasoline infrastructure for personal transportation by solving the battery problem. Better Place works like a cell network company ("think AT&T, not Nokia")- you pay for the electricity you use and the car is made affordable. This key to solving the battery problem is separating the battery from the car- if your battery becomes depleted (say on a trip of over 100 km) a fully-automated battery-exchange station exchanges your battery for a fully charged one in a few minutes (and for free! since Better Place owns the batteries). It also proposes a vast network of charging spots to charge your car while you work, shop, sleep, etc. All this is automated and controlled through software to allocate energy efficiently and that is synched with GPS and cell phones so you can get information through your phone, such as the status of your car's battery while it's charging in the parking lot, the availability of charging spots or battery-exchange stations wherever you are headed.
Better Place is also trying to make the electric car affordable through tax incentives in collaboration with governments and essentially using the extensive network of car batteries to store energy from renewable energy sources that normally has no place to be stored - thus proposing a solution to the wind and solar industry's battery problem.
In short, they provide benefits across many sectors. It, of course, has its limitations, like the fact that it really only provides for personal transportation use (not heavy trucks, boats, airplanes), but even then, while not achieving oil independence, it greatly improves the situation. Because the 'new gas stations' are automated, it also means all the gas-pumpers will be out of jobs, unfortunately. Here is an article from Wired on the man behind the company and the idea behind solving the battery problem. I particularly like this quote: "When I ask Shai if he's worried about a competitor stealing his idea, he stares at me like I'm an idiot. 'The mission is to end oil,' he says, 'not create a company.'"
Israel, Denmark, Australia, Hawaii and San Francisco are on board and Ontario has recently joined the table (or watch it here).
In a similar way that CitizenRE is doing, Better Place, to me, represents a new kind of company that is demonstrating that the old 'Economy or Environment' option is out-dated by providing innovative services.
Start spreading the word! We make more change with our dollars than we do with our mouths, unless it's to educate.
Better Place is also trying to make the electric car affordable through tax incentives in collaboration with governments and essentially using the extensive network of car batteries to store energy from renewable energy sources that normally has no place to be stored - thus proposing a solution to the wind and solar industry's battery problem.
In short, they provide benefits across many sectors. It, of course, has its limitations, like the fact that it really only provides for personal transportation use (not heavy trucks, boats, airplanes), but even then, while not achieving oil independence, it greatly improves the situation. Because the 'new gas stations' are automated, it also means all the gas-pumpers will be out of jobs, unfortunately. Here is an article from Wired on the man behind the company and the idea behind solving the battery problem. I particularly like this quote: "When I ask Shai if he's worried about a competitor stealing his idea, he stares at me like I'm an idiot. 'The mission is to end oil,' he says, 'not create a company.'"
Israel, Denmark, Australia, Hawaii and San Francisco are on board and Ontario has recently joined the table (or watch it here).
In a similar way that CitizenRE is doing, Better Place, to me, represents a new kind of company that is demonstrating that the old 'Economy or Environment' option is out-dated by providing innovative services.
Start spreading the word! We make more change with our dollars than we do with our mouths, unless it's to educate.
posted by Mark Dalgarno at 00:06
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