Better Place - the Electric-Car Market Is Driving Away from

[fordfocuselectric]

Better Place has long had it's eye on the electric car business, more specifically battery swapping. Drivers could swap their battery pack for a fresh one rather than be down and out for hours on end when trying to venture cross country. Apparently there's an argument for this in island communities like Hawaii and Israel - although I'm not sure why an island makes it a better or worse idea.

The rest of the EV world, the rest meaning everyone except Better Place, thinks consumers want their battery to be a permanent part of their car (think swapping out your brand new battery pack for some used one at a swap station).

Automakers aren't making their autos in a way that allows for this... some complexity would be expected, but most battery packs are build in the platform, and the rest of the vehicle is built around it. That doesn't make it easy for a Ford Focus Electric driver to have their pack swapped while they grab McDonalds from across the street.

Automakers have now reduced the cost of the battery to the point where vehicles like the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Ford Focus Electric are a viable option. Users can now calibrate their driving and avoid swapping their packs.

Better Place looked and sounded good when the EV revolution as just beginning.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-c...ctric-car-market-is-driving-away-from-it/3087

 

[hobbit]

I never bought into this concept in the first place. I think a lot of people when they first heard this though it sounded like a great idea, anyone who had any significant understand on battery packs and how they are integrated into an electric car would think it would be a good idea to be constantly taking them in and out, and to potentially replace a relatively new battery pack with one that had 80k miles.

If you are going to do this, might was well just change cars for long trips. Instead of battery packs the 'better place' locations would just be a car lot with lots of charging capability. You drive in your car and they set it up on a charger and you get to borrow someone else's car for the rest of your trip or until you come to the next location. On the return trip you drop of your loaner car and get yours back.

Better yet, just rent an ICE when you take a road trip.