Batterie ist bares Öl

So gründete er nach dem Ausstieg bei SAP das Projekt Better Place und konnte 200 Mio. USD Startkapital auftreiben. Shai Agassi will ganz Israel mit einem Netz von Ladestationen für Elektroautos überziehen. Sein Ziel: Weg vom Öl, hin zu regenerativen Energien. 500.000 Strom-Tankstellen sollen im ganzen Land installiert werden, an denen die Akkus der Elektroautos aufgeladen oder auch ausgetauscht werden können - sollte die Ladezeit zu lange dauern. Sein Grundsatz, die Batterie unabhängig vom Auto zu machen ist so revolutionär wie genial: "Die Batterie ist bares Öl. Wir kaufen ja auch nicht ein Auto mit einer auf Lebensdauer festgelegten Menge an Benzin." Die Frage sei immer, wie lange man anhalten müsse um 300km weit zu fahren. Anstatt Stunden zu warten bis die Batterie voll ist, wird man bei Better Place einfach in die vom Navigations-System vorgeschlagene Batteriewechsel-Station fahren um die Batterie auszuwechseln und nach 7 Sekunden weiterfahren.

7 US-Cent pro 100km

Und noch ein Aspekt ist neu: Die Kosten des Autofahrens werden sich in Zukunkt nicht daran richten, wie viel Benzin wir tanken, sondern wie weit wir fahren. Agassi bringt dabei gerne das Beispiel eines Mobilfunk-Anbieters: Bei Better Place wird man Abos lösen können (Bsp. 2000km pro Jahr) oder ähnlich dem Prepay-Angebot bezahlen und losfahren. Für den Verbraucher wäre das um ein Vielfaches günstiger als bisher: Nach Agassis System ließen sich die Elektroautos schon für sieben US-Cent pro 100 Meilen auftanken. Eine Verpflichtung über 6 Jahre bedeutet ein Gratis-Auto. Überhaupt ist die Situation vergleichbar mit der der Mobilfunk-Industrie Ende Neunziger Jahre. Grosse Investitionen wurden getätigt um eine Infrastruktur aufzubauen. Die Geräte, mit deren Gebrauch das Geld verdient wird, werden fast oder ganz gratis abgegeben. Und wenn Autos umsonst abgegeben werden, mus man sich keine Sorgen über die Nachfrage machen.

Ich hoffe der Plan funktioniert.

Artikel über Shai Agassi im TIME Magazin

How would you run an entire country without oil, without taking the help of any innovative technology, without any government assistance, and with a specific time frame to get off the oil completely?

Shai Agassi says he has a plan to achieve this wonderful feat. In fact, he is already half way through it. Two countries, Israel and Denmark, have already agreed to work with him in promoting electric cars. Inspired by his initiatives, Israel has already announced that it would electrify all its vehicles by next decade. In January this year, Israel announced that tax on electric vehicles would be only 10 percent of their price compared to 80 percent on that of gasoline vehicles.

Until recently very few people knew Shai Agassi. But he is now hailed as "part scientist, part visionary, with a lot of salesman thrown in." He is listed in Times' "Heroes of Environment 2008". He is an Israeli scientist and entrepreneur who founded a small software company which was later acquired by the SAP, worlds' third largest software company and largest vendor of enterprise software, for whopping US$ 400 millions. He joined SAP as per the sale agreement and soon rose to senior ranks mainly because of his out-of-box thinking. He was head of products and was in line to become the CEO of the company.

As a member of "Young Golden Leaders," he participated in a seminar held at a Swiss resort Zermatt to "make the world better place" by 2020. This proved to be a turning point of his life. He then began focusing on environmental problems facing the world. After deliberations with experts and a lot of research on carbon economy and energy  policies, he came to conclusion that only by ending the addiction to depleting fossil fuels could the world be saved. To achieve his goal, he targeted transportation sector as it is the major consumer of fossil fuels. With the limited time frame and less scope for new innovations, he tried to find a solution which could liberate the world from the oil addiction. The only solution seemed to replace oil-consuming and co2 spewing cars with electric cars. The problem of battery need to be sorted out before doing that. Shai came with a clever plan: a complete electric car system that will much work like a mobile phone system. Encouraged by the Israeli leader Shimon Peres, he quit his job and raised US$ 200 million for his project "Better Place", which is considered to be world's second largest start-up venture.

He separated the ownership of car and battery. He sorted out the battery problem by simply providing the option of swapping it away. The customers will not be charged for cars but for the electricity they spend. He proposed the concept called Electronic Recharge Grid Operator. A network of powerspots would be built all over the nation--homes, workplaces, downtown and parking lots--to top up the batteries. There is another option for those who want to go on long drive. The batteries can be swapped at battery swapping stations similar to gasoline stations. Shai claims that customers can own a  cool car which can go 0-60 km in seven and half seconds and with zero emissions if they can afford to spend US$ 500 per month which is almost equal to thier average current monthly gasoline bills.

Think of benefits accrued from saving huge sums of money spent on importing oil and saving the environment, the plan looks awesome. Shai claims that nearly 30 countries have already come forward to implement his plan to get off the oil. The auto industry is set for a complete change in the existing paradigm. However, the markets which are deeply entrenched in the oil may resist the change initially. The developing countries like China and India should come forward to welcome these oil-deaddiction plans and try to adopt in their countries. China has responded very quickly. Read this. I feel that this idea may not be suitable to large countries like India where power failures are a frequent phenomenon but they should devise necessary plans to  save their countries from excessive oil import bills.

I wish it is implemented in India. Maybe in near future, we could come across electric cars zooming every road of India, powerspots in every home and small-scale power generation centres spread across every village of India, providing clean energy and generating employment to millions of people.

Read more at: Wired Magazine.

Also, know more about Agassi's ideas from his blog.

Also read this blog.

In early June, Israeli President Simon Peres, told Wired's Daniel Roth that Israel was going to declare complete energy independence and the Better Place rollout in partnership with Renault developed by Shai Agassi was part of that solution.

Agassi has made bold statements in his interview with Wired magazine 9^th of September O8, that the solution to oil consuming, C02 consuming cars was to get rid of them. He states, that, "the internal combustion engine had to be retired. The future is in electric cars.

He has come up with a strategy for deploying electric cars, rather than an innovation technologically to improve battery performance. Essentially the problem of batteries is the same as it ever was, he said ""Car batteries are still heavy and expensive, don't last long, and take forever to recharge".

Agassi, has developed a strategic plan for deployment that uses software, networks and mobile phone style plans for re-charging electric cars using a network of distribution points thereby solving the problem of battery life.

Shai Agassi was Head of Products at SAP, the world's largest maker of enterprise software, Agassi came into SAP, when SAP bought a small-business software company he started with his father. He is now the CEO of Better Place. The experience at SAP in IT software has led to the innovation at Better Place a Climate Change IT technology crossover, which is happening more frequently in carbon solutions. It is intriguing.

Agassi dealt with the battery issue as part of the solution.

"Previous approaches relied on a traditional manufacturing formula: We make the cars, you buy them. Agassi re-imagined the entire automotive ecosystem by proposing a new concept he called the Electric Recharge Grid Operator. It was an unorthodox mash-up of the automotive and mobile phone industries. Instead of gas stations on every corner, the ERGO would blanket a country with a network of "smart" charge spots. Drivers could plug in anywhere, anytime, and would subscribe to a specific plan-unlimited miles, a maximum number of miles each month, or pay as you go-all for less than the equivalent cost for gas. They'd buy their car from the operator, who would offer steep discounts, perhaps even give the cars away. The profit would come from selling electricity-the minutes".

"There would be plugs in homes, offices, shopping malls. And when customers couldn't wait to "fill up," they'd go to battery exchange stations where they would pull into car-wash-like sheds, and in a few minutes, a hydraulic lift would swap the depleted battery with a fresh one. Drivers wouldn't pay a penny extra: The ERGO would own the battery". Agassi stated.

His video of his plans is attached.

New Zealand could also take advantage of other plans being developed around existing hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius by Australian companies. See www.Greentomatocars.net

The city plans to solicit proposals for an electric car infrastructure from serious candidates by the end of the month. The greater goal, Wade Crowfoot, the city’s director of climate change initiatives, explained, is to have the city ready for the slew of electric cars coming onto the market by 2010.

And where is the mayor's own electric car, Tesla Roadster No. 51? "I just got a call," he told us. "It's coming in a few weeks."

Check out the complete list of responders after the jump.

1. Michael C. Lee
2. InFuels LLC
3. Better Place
4. Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation
5. UniServices Limited
6. Coulomb Technologies teamed with AeroVironment, V2Green, Silver Spring Networks
7. ZAP!
8. Booz Allen Hamilton
9. Vectrix Corporation and Scuderia West
10. Janus Technology Advisors
11. Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Network
12. Rubelab
13. San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association
14. Porteon Electric Vehicles
15. Envision Solar International
16. Fehr & Peers
17. Friends of the Earth
18. Nu Element
19. Park and Power

The mayor also issued today a challenge to the businesses of San Francisco to go solar in the next year. With the help of CH2M HILL, who developed the city's solar map, the city has identified 1,600 businesses with viable rooftops for solar. Each business will receive a letter offering a free energy efficiency and solar audit. Under San Francisco's solar incentive program, businesses can receive $10,000 in rebates for installing a solar system. If all 1,600 businesses go solar the city could generate 170 megawatts of solar power. More attainable, Newsom says, is doubling the amount of solar to 10 megawatts.

- We are all driving electric cars
- Israel is getting off of using oil
- Renault is going to be the greenest car manufacturer
- Denmark is going to be a key player in the world's car business
- Cars are going to "free"  

Answer?
- all the above.

This is the dream and soon a reality created by Shai Agassi. He has a solution for the biggest problem in the car industry hindering the roll-out of electric cars - the battery life. He is creating a network of stations, where charging the battery is possible, and what makes this idea different is that in his system the car owners don't actually own the batteries, so when in a hurry you can change the whole battery at the station to a charged battery. This also takes the pressure off the car manufacturers to design a battery that would last for the lifetime of the car. In fact, Agassi want's to reinvent more than that, he's trying disrupt the whole motoring industry and their business models, by selling cars like mobile phones; the car is "free", but you sign up for certain amount of kilometers. 

This is not a fantasy - it's actually happening as we speak. The first two countries to build the network are Israel and Denmark. These countries will be the focus and discussion topic of the car industry for the next few years. The first mass production manufacturer is Renault.

I believe in this, since for the first time someone has put together a winning idea with money, network, policies, and the cars. To get a better understanding, read an inspiring Wired Magazine article on the topic, or on Wired blog.

Here's Shai Agassis "3 minute" introduction of the Better Place venture. I think we are going to hear much more of him in the future. 

How the charging-stations work:

Better Place nos propone olvidarnos de nuestra dependencia del petróleo y utilizar coches movidos solo por baterías, pero su idea no es vendernos coches eléctricos, eso se lo deja a los actuales fabricantes de coches, va más allá better place quiere ser la red donde estos coches se "cargen", la gasolinera del futuro.

Su idea se basa en el principal problema que tienen  los coches eléctricos, la recarga de las baterías, que  actualmente tienen un coste de carga muy alto a nivel temporal, la idea de Agassi es crear una red de estaciones que "simplemente" sustituyan las baterias gastadas por unas nuevas cargadas.

Better Place tiene acuerdos con Renault, Dinamarca e Israel, que obviamente tiene un interés muy especial en reducir su dependencia del petróleo.

Agassi hace una propuesta valiente, decidida y original, esperemos que su grid de estaciones sea todo un éxito y podamos cambiar un poco el mundo.

Recordar que el mundo no es así como se suele decir, el mundo es como nosotros queremos que sea.

]]> http://wanderingbella.wordpress.com/?p=213 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:08:13 +0000 wanderingkatie http://wanderingbella.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/why-america-will-be-responsible-for-our-own-undoing/ Because we elect corrupt, narrow-minded, rich croneyism-ridden politicians from local towns all the way up to the White House that control what goes on here. This is not news to anyone of course. But the exclamation point was put on the sentence for me when I read an article in Wired about Shai Agassi's plan for electric cars.  There are many people tackling how to solve the energy crisis. And many of the ideas are good but have limitations - many financial. The idea that Better Placeis putting forth is 100% electric cars with a charging grid installed that has charging stations in homes, businesses, Starbucks drive-throughs -  all over the place. You pull in and use electricity as if you were filling up your tank with gas except the electricity is bought, tracked and used like cellphone minutes on a computer system - you buy a charge plan. For the first time I've read a solution to oil dependence that seems feasible - financially and otherwise. Finally a solution that is not cost-prohibitive to the average consumer (see the Wired article for more specifics on the finances of the electric car+grid idea). Better Place has agreement to install test grids in Israel and Denmark, and is slowly finding companies to create and manufacturer the items on the list it needs: computer system, electric cars and plugs.  Ok so I'm thinking green light when I realized that this solution could not only reduce our reliance on oil but eliminate it all-together. Thus enters Washington DC bureaucracy at it's best.  Shai met with several leaders in DC and was met with blank looks, meaningless good wishes, and general opposition to the idea. Why? Newsflash! The rich politicians don't want us to end our dependence on foreign oil, or see combustion-engine cars go by the wayside. Polluting cars and foreign oil have made many people in the US rich. Transferring $2-3 trillion outside our flailing US economy in a 4 year period of time is fine with politicians - donkeys and elephants alike  -  when it's keeping them and all their rich friends rich. Feh.

Pueden leer de que se trata en esta nota de Thomas Friedman del NYT o sino ver el vídeo (que es la idea de este video-blog):

The electric car is a case in point. Zero emissions are a noble goal, but how much will that car cost the consumer, or the environment? What chemicals will have to dealt with in manufacture; or in disposal? What do you do when your battery quits taking a charge? How much will a replacement cost? How much will it cost to build the infrastructure to support electric cars? I really would like to know the answers to these questions, especially from GM, who has been advertising its ephemeral Chevrolet Volt for some time already as if it already exists.

Shai Agassi, a young entrepreneur, has come up with an idea for building a sustainable (key word!) business (Better Place): an electric network that will support a new age of smart electric cars. Agassi’s idea is that you essentially lease the car and battery, and pay for its use through metered electricity. (Like the free cell phone paid for by usage or, going way back to that prime example of Chris Anderson’s Zero Economy, the King Gillette’s disposable shaving blade). The benefits are that you don’t have to buy an expensive car or more importantly, an expensive battery that will need replacing after so many charges. The car is provided to you, you pay for it by paying for the consumable portion: the electricity. The company develops the charging stations and the retailing infrastructure. If you need a fresh battery for a long trip, you just go to the charging station where they swap in a new battery in 10 minutes. You don’t need to worry about the cost of ownership and replacing worn out batteries. You pay for what you use, which is the way everything should be.

The idea is there, and Roth’s story outlines the process Agassi has been going through in finding a place to do trials, and a manufacturer to produce the vehicles and stations. A single car has yet to be produced. Brought to my mind our own (Canada) home grown electric car that is sold through out the world by the Toronto based Zenn Electric Company. Seems to me Agassi, you have a solution…Zenn already has the cars, and better yet the world wide license to develop electric vehicles using EEStor’s innovative high capacity battery system (three times the storage capacity of lithium ion). And, Transport Canada has finally allowed (just barely...they do need a kick in the ass) the use of these cars here in Canada.

Agassi…meet Zenn. Is this the solution we have been waiting for?

Shai Agassi has only one car, no charging stations, and not a single customer—yet everyone who meets him already believes he can see the future. (Better Place)

. . . . . .

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Last spring, SAP's CEO-to-be jumped ship to pursue a career in alternative energy. Since then, Shai Agassi has set out to make the combustion engine obsolete once and for all. Interestingly, his company, Better Place, will act more like a cellular service provider than a car company. Users will buy their car from a manufacturer, but subscribe to Better Place and receive a battery as well as access to an expansive network of charging/battery swapping stations.

With Renault on board to churn out the cars, NEC to make the batteries, and Israel and Denmark to essentially serve as beta-markets, Better Place may actually do what their name so boldly suggests.

For more, check out Wired's article.

"What would happen if you cross-bred Henry Ford and Yitzhak Rabin? You’d get Shai Agassi."

I think I can improve.

Shai Agassi is a hero.

Bottom line. (Read Thomas's book, The World is Flat, and you might think he is one as well)

The plain reality is that our civilization is experiencing harsh consequences directly resulting from our own innovations. The most highly debated and discusses innovation being automobiles and oil.

But, when you look at how oil has effected the socioeconomics of almost every culture worldwide, you would immediately understand how it is going to take a lot more then alternative energy to fix the oil problem. Because within the oil problem, there exist an entire set of other connected issue, from technology, to economy, and even religion. Being able to solve a problem, that addresses all connected problems, is extremely difficult. Doing this on an international scale is much harder, and executing the solution is near impossible.

Shai Agassi is on a mission to create

"global energy independence and freedom from oil"

Say that out loud. Think of all the many countless factors at play. He is trying to account for them all, and deliver a solution that could fix the ills brought upon by the industrial revolution.

Most importantly, he is committed, and determined to address, perhaps the hardest issue of our time. And for that he is a hero.

The common misnomer when it comes to electric vehicles historically has been the battery -- how big a battery(ies) is required? How long does it take to charge? What if it runs out of power away from a refilling spot? Huge leaps in battery technology have largely eliminated these reliability variables. Without dipping too far into battery logistics and technology, a group from The Georgia Institute of Technology looks to be emerging with what may become the standard EV-specific battery - the pulse charge.

Elliot Small, another Democratic Party Delegate and founder of Luxury Electric from Nevada, a company planning to feature the viability of large scale travel with a transcontinental EV trip (with a pit stop at the DNC) had this to say about pulse charge batteries:

"

We are working with a research team at Georgia Tech under an exclusive patent license agreement to develop pulse-charging technology that will allow full charges from any outlet in as little as 10 minutes. No charge-up stations will be necessary for The Electric once the pulse-charging capability is ready. Just plug your car into any outlet for a few minutes every 150 miles or so and you're good to go. In general, the cost of the electricity will work out to about $4 per charge or $4 per 150 miles.

"

Without dedicated EV filling stations, the cars have historically required nightly recharges but filling station infrastructure looks to be making headway as efforts by Shai Agassi will potentially make EV filling station as ubiquitous as their gas station counterparts. Read more about Agassi and his filling station plans in this month's Wired.

So how does all this connect with Space 2.0 and Bringing Space Down to Earth? These advances we are seeing in battery technology and high-efficiency solar collectors are directly from spacecraft. And while pulse charging and EV filling stations still are some time away, many people have installed dedicated solar arrays on their homes to power their electric vehicles "off the grid." Once again, space technology innovations in renewable energy to lessen our resource dependence. Small had this to add:

"

Future electric motorists will be able to buy electricity from utilities reselling wind or solar power sources, resulting in a virtually zero emissions vehicle that performs as well as traditional autos on all levels.

"

And just as a note, the article is 10 pages long. However, it also happens to be the first 10-page-long article I have ever finished...

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi?currentPage=0

Here are the video's to the Davos Infrastructure

Have a look at the video - Shai Agassi - Revolutionizing the Eectic Car

I wish this idea take out big time for tax incentives and a vision to eliminate gasoline transportation, The infrastructure should be powered by Open Source or Gnutella Networks as i personally feel Open Source will bring in more innovation and personalization which would bring participation. Hail Richard Stallman.

Systems Thinkers Take Note: Electric Cars and Wind Turbines are rendered systemic by todays great minds!

In the July 27 Opinion section of the Sunday New York Times. op.ed. writer Thomas Friedman offered up a fantastic commentary on the collective genius that is popping up to problem solve the current oil crisis, without turning to off shore drilling!

"..[W]hat would happen, Friedman asks, "if you put together T. Boone Pickens, the green billionaire Texas oilman now obsessed with wind power, and Shai Aggasi, the Jewish Henry Ford now obsessed with making Israel the world's leader in electric cars? You'd have the start of an energy revolution."

Friedman, who has been dogged on his critique of American gas habits (Did you read his notes in The Lexus and the Olive Tree?), portrays the Boone/Aggasi's systemic problem-solving efforts as setting a new high bar for activating collective genius and the kutzpah factor. While there are two stories of poignant nationalism shaping two sustainable energy programs, there is one sure picture to hold firmly in the mind's eye: Great ideas come from "mindsharing" -- a strong value invoked by today's young social entrepreneurs (see www.mindshare.la) and by people who dare to think systemically... and in their more enlightened moments, holistically.

Along these lines of thinking, check out a great expose on the legacy of mindsharing and collective genius in yet another New York publication:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_gladwell

BetterBrains! BetterProducts!

Here's a toast to the future of GREAT MINDS!

M. A. writing from MMAD Scientists

m.greenstein@mmad-sci.com

El artículo completo (no es muy largo, pero está en inglés) aquí.

No doubt, as Agassi writes on his blog this weekend, the two would have more than enough to chew on over breakfast. Agassi says: "I never met him [Pickens], but I am now very intrigued by the thought of seeing what happens when the two of us get together and think." So are we.

But while the two share the same goals of getting countries to become less reliant on foreign oil -- Pickens focusing on the United States, and Agassi starting first with Israel and Denmark -- we would suspect they would have a few major points of contention. Namely, Pickens's call for natural gas vehicles to provide a third of the U.S. transportation is somewhat at odds with Agassi's attempts to build the electrification of the world's transportation. Though there is room for more than one form of alternative cleaner transportation, the massive investment needed to build out the natural gas infrastructure could draw investment away from efforts to encourage the proliferation of electric vehicles.

And since we think electric vehicles are a far better long term alternative transportation plan, here's what we would want from a sit down between Agassi and Pickens: Agassi, can you convince Pickens that electric vehicles are a better plan? We laud Pickens's work on the world's largest wind farm and investment into clean-generated electricity. And I think we can all agree that kicking the foreign oil habit is the end game. But let's build out an infrastructure that is already in place -- the power grid -- to drive our vehicles. Agassi would probably put it a lot more eloquently than that, and perhaps, with all his successes thus far, could really drive home the point.

The article focuses on two people: T. Boone Pickens and Shai Agassi.  Pickens, who made his fortune in the oil business, is leading a charge to get the United States to devote a significant amount of resources to the development of wind energy.  In fact, he has spent $2 billion of his own money buying land in the Texas Panhandle as well as 700 wind turbines from GE (their largest turbine order ever), in order to create the largest wind farm in the world.  To read more about his efforts, please visit the Pickens Plan website.

Agassi, an Israeli technology guru, launched Project Better Place last year, with the goal of creating a nationwide grid of electric cars in Israel.  The project has a very ambitious mission, but has been gaining traction with car makers and governments.

The reason I wanted to call your attention to the column, and more importantly to these two entrepreneurs with bold visions, is because electric cars and renewable energy are game-changing initiatives that have the potential to have a dramatic impact on the fight against global warming as well as our nation's addiction to oil, most of which comes from foreign sources.  Pickens and Agassi are showing that doing well while doing good are not mutually exclusive ideas.

Over the last 16 months, my firm has been at the forefront of bringing renewable energy to the marketing industry.  We not only have powered our own plants with wind energy, but created a cooperative group that comprised a half-dozen other firms in our space to do the same.  As a result, we have saved tens of thousands of gallons of oil as well as eliminated more than 1 million pounds of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.  For these efforts, we have been recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Pickens and Agassi are impressive because they are not waiting for the US Congress to act to make renewable energy initiatives easier.  Neither should we.  Each of us in our own way, either personally or organizationally, can do our share to reduce our dependence on oil by moving to renewable energy.  My firm, Grossman Marketing Group, decided that the best way to do this is to use wind power to produce all of our marketing materials.  Our efforts have been endorsed by some of our country's most reputable environmental organizations, including the League of Conservation Voters and the National Park Foundation.  In addition, many of the nearly 100 clients that have produced their materials with us bearing our proprietary wind power logo have received positive feedback in the marketplace for doing so.

It is incumbent upon us in the marketing industry to do our part to fight global warming and the country's addiction to oil, and we believe wind power is the best way to make that a reality.

For a link to the full Friedman column, please click here.

I want my car to be electric a.s.a.p.!

The UK market is larger than either Israel and Denmark, where Project Better Places has already inked deals. And Brown is serious about electrifying the British fleet. Speaking at the G-8 Summit at the start of July, Brown suggested a punitive tax to help reach his goal of getting the emissions of all cars below 100 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer by 2020. Such a tax would be very similar to the tax systems in Denmark and Israel that could make Project Better Place's proposed electric cars financially attractive.

We're still waiting for official word as to whether or not Project Better Place will move into Portugal, where its business partners Nissan-Renault recently signed an agreement to provide electric cars and charging infrastructure. Project Better Place was not named as part of the deal.

Stateside, the San Francisco's mayor's office tells us they are continuing their push to get the Bay Area to be the first U.S. region to electrify its cars. A spokesman for the mayor said that following discussions with Project Better Place, the startup is now conducting a feasibility study to see what is needed to bring their electric car scheme to the Bay Area. Meanwhile, Mayor Newsom is worried that Hawaii might beat him to the electric car punch.

The article "Could this car drive oil power to a stop?" is about the unique project to make the world a better place. The State of Israel has become the first country, and Renault-Nissan the first automaker, to announce their partnerships with us to begin a mass deployment of electric cars.

The official website of Project Better Place states: "Project Better Place is very excited that the State of Israel has become the first country, and Renault-Nissan the first automaker, to announce their partnerships with us to begin a mass deployment of electric cars. We believe that it is past time to begin making it possible for consumers to choose an electric vehicle that is much less expensive to operate, does not emit pollution or greenhouse gases and provides a better driving experience from their current automobiles. The State of Israel has shown foresight in implementing an appropriate tax policy, and setting out a vision by which it can become the first industrialized nation to end the stranglehold of oil on its economy and environment. Renault-Nissan, likewise, has shown great vision and leadership , when agreeing to become the first major automaker to produce electric vehicles on a mass-scale to integrate with our infrastructure . We look forward to working with them to replace hundreds of thousands of polluting cars with new electric vehicles, for a cleaner and safer world."

This concept is set-up by Shai Agassi (as far I know, not related to Andre):

"Shai Agassi is the founder and CEO of Project Better Place, a company focused on the early 21st century’s biggest challenge - a scaleable and sustainable personal transportation system.  In this role, Agassi works directly with governments, finance, automobile manufacturers and technology companies to install, scale, and operate a regional and global infrastructure necessary for electronic vehicles.

With a personal passion in solving large-scale social and environmental issues, Agassi believes in utilizing technology and capital markets to address the challenges of sustainability and climate change.  With Better Place, he will manage the operation of international electric vehicle fleets by investing in, installing and operating countrywide charging infrastructures for electric cars, as well as working with partners to make the cars available.

Most recently, Better Place and Renault-Nissan announced a partnership that will enable electric vehicles to be mass produced for the Israeli market as announced by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert President Shimon Perez in January 2008.  Better Place is in discussions with multiple auto-makers and countries as they seek to move more markets off of oil and onto an electric recharge grid operator model.

Before founding Better Place, Agassi was formerly president of the Products and Technology Group at SAP AG and a member of the SAP AG Executive Board (2002 - 2007).  In these roles, Agassi was responsible for both the global development of the SAP product line and SAP’s portfolio of industry-specific solutions. While at SAP AG, Agassi spearheaded the development and release of SAP’s successful platform strategy; led innovations that helped the company grow into a market leader, and set the stage for the future of business software.

As a serial entrepreneur, Agassi has developed and cultivated several technology companies. During his career, Agassi founded Quicksoft Media and QuickSoft Ltd as well as TopTier Software and TopManage, which were both acquired by SAP.

Agassi is an active member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum where he focuses on climate change and transportation issues.

I added Shai's blog The Long Tailpipe to my blogroll. Make sure to visit his blog and the official website of Project Better Place:

www.projectbetterplace.com

Portugal is a logical next step for Project Better Place to show its system can scale in the open market. The Iberian nation is slightly bigger and more populous than either Denmark or Israel, Project Better Place's first two national partners. Also, Portugal (like most EU nations) is not a sheltered automotive haven like Denmark or Israel, which have massively skewed tax systems that harshly penalize the internal combustion engine. Geographically, Portugal offers a prime opportunity to test Project Better Place's ability to adequately deploy charging stations in a place where many drivers travel long distances. Success in Portugal could warm the rest of the European Union to the American startup's plan.

Nissan and Renault have agreed to roll out electric cars in Portugal by 2011 and will work together to build a charging station infrastructure. The three-year project is estimated to cost the automakers between $500 million and $1 billion. If the experience of Israel and Denmark are any indication, Project Better Place will likely manage the infrastructure development while Renault designs and manufactures the cars and Nissan develops the swappable batteries.

There's still no word on the Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup electrifying any cars stateside but we bet San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is getting antsy as more countries sign on before him.

Foto: eirikso / Shai Agassi

Das Verkaufskonzept klingt auf jeden Fall nicht unspannend: Das Elektroauto, das dem Kunden bei Vertragsabschluss zur Verfügung gestellt wird, kostet gar nichts. Dafür muss man sich 4 Jahre lang an einen bestimmten Strompreis "binden" - und der wird so hoch angesetzt, dass der Kunde dasselbe Geld für jeden gefahrenen Kilometer hinlegen muss, wie bei einem Auto mit Verbrennungsmotor für den Sprit. Allerdings bleibt der Preis 4 Jahre stabil, wovon man beim Öl-Preis nicht ausgehen kann. Und wenn Benzin wieder billiger werden sollte, dann rechnet sich die Sache für die Kunden natürlich weniger. Mehr, wenn Öl teurer wird.

Aufladen kann man die Batterien des Autos scheinbar nur an den dafür vorgesehen Stationen, die überall noch errichtet werden müssen. Das schränkt den Nutzen ein, wenn man am Land wohnt. Bequem ist es jedenfalls nicht, wenn man einige Hundert Meter oder sogar mehrere Kilometer zur nächsten Ladestation hat, wo das eigene Auto über Nacht aufgeladen wird...

Neben dem Problem der fehlenden Infrastruktur und den noch fehlenden Elektroautos, ist auch die Frage nicht unberechtigt, wo der zusätzlich für die Autos benötigte Strom herkommen soll. Agassi spricht zwar einerseits von "ausschließlich sauberen Quellen", schließt aber andererseits auch die Nutzung von Atomstrom nicht aus. Kritik von Seiten grüner NGOs und Interessensverbände ist so wohl schon vorprogrammiert. Wenn der verbrauchte Strom gar aus Kohlekraftwerken kommt, dann sieht die CO2-Bilanz natürlich noch schlechter aus.

Außerdem, kann die benötigte Menge Energie zusätzlich problemlos bereitgestellt werden? Wenn die Angaben Agassis stimmen, dass nur 6 Prozent mehr Strom verbraucht wird, "selbst wenn alle 50 Millionen Autos in Deutschland von jetzt auf gleich mit Elektroantrieb fahren", dann ist das ein lösbares Problem. Vor allem, wenn neue Anlagen zur Stromerzeugung aus erneuerbaren Energien ans Netz geschlosssen werden. Ich bin mir aber nicht sicher, ob ich bei dieser Angabe ungeprüft einem Manager vertrauen will, der gnadenlos Werbung für seine Geschäftsidee macht.