Better Place Shows Electric Taxis Working in the Real World

Better Place Shows Electric Taxis Working in the Real World
Better Place Shows Electric Taxis Working in the Real World

Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, has a vision — a vision for a world free of oil dependency. Mr. Agassi, who is well on his way to making this vision a reality, has what he believes is the solution for making electric vehicles efficient and affordable. He theorizes that the only way to take electric vehicles into mainstream society is to eliminate the inconvenience factor, in this case, the battery. Enter Better Place, which is already underway in Israel and Denmark. The Better Place plan is to build an infrastructure of battery charging and switch stations. What if, instead of having to plug in your car for a lengthy amount of time, you could pull into a battery exchange station and have a fully charged battery placed in your vehicle in the tenth of the time that it takes to fill up at the gas station, and without even getting out of the car?

Electric Taxis by Better Place
Electric Taxis In Action

In much the same way that a cell phone company provides minutes, Better Place would sell miles to their customers. A Better Place consumer would purchase a monthly mileage package that would include charging and use of the battery switching stations. Shai Agassi tells us that this system would bring the cost of an electric vehicle down from the hard to grasp $30,000 mark to the more reasonable $15,000 price point, thus reaching a larger market and moving us closer to an oil-free lifestyle.

2011 Renault Fluence Z.E.
2011 Renault Fluence Z.E.

By partnering with Renault-Nissan, Better Place has already put the system to the test with the successful Tokyo Electric Taxi Project. Over 3,000 passengers have used the electric taxis traveling over 40,000 kilometers. Project data states that the taxi drivers went through the battery switching stations 2,122 times with the average switch time lasting 59.1 seconds. Later this year, Better Place will be delivering 115,000 Renault Fluence Z.E. electric sedans to customers in Israel and Denmark with plans to build over 100,000 EV charging stations and 100 (to start) battery exchange stations for each country.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHHvjsFm_88[/youtube]

Better Place is also working with leading battery manufacturers to provide the most reliable and up-to-date Lithium-ion batteries to place in their EVs. Shai Agassi points out that battery technology has made leaps and bounds over the past few years with considerably more storage capacity and twice the power capability, which improves the range and performance of EVs. Better Place is committed to environmentally safe practices by using recyclable batteries and renewable energy sources to power their charging stations. It will still be some time before residents in North America can pull into their local Better Place service station, but some will get the opportunity soon. Over the next 3 years, the Electric Taxi Project will unfold in the San Francisco Bay area with 4 battery exchange stations to support the electric taxi fleet. Hawaii is also on the list to begin building a foundation of Better Place charge stations starting in early 2011.

2 thoughts on “Better Place Shows Electric Taxis Working in the Real World”

  1. @Geo
    That is the whole point with BP. They look for green sources of power to feed each car they put on the road. The problem with green energy is that it is not always producing when the car needs it. That’s where these stations come in. They serve to store the energy when it is produced and use it when needed.
    I live in Montreal and we get the vast majority of our power from Hydro. Even if the energy comes from polluting sources, it is much easier to clean the exhaust from one big pipe which is standing still then 10000 which are in motion.

  2. This craze for electric cars is great but until we start producing electricity by other means instead of burning fossil fuels, what’s the point?
    It’s no better to drive an electric vehicle if the electricty used is generated by burning coal or another fossil fuel.
    We’re fooling ourselves into thinking we’re saving the world when we’re not.

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