Last Sunday, “CBS News Sunday Morning†broadcast my report about Better Place, a radical, overarching plan to replace the world’s gas cars with electric ones—really, really quickly. The nutty thing is, it just might work; the streetside charging outlets for these cars are already under construction in six countries and two U.S. states. (You can watch the story here.) As always, there wasn’t enough time on TV for the whole interview. So here’s a longer, edited excerpt of my chat with Better Place chief executive Shai Agassi, former SAP executive. Full Interview Script
This is a really great story. I commend the participating countries, along with Hawaii and San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland for taking such a great initiative in implementing this. I truly do believe that it can work and is plausible. It makes me happy to see that there are actually people in our government willing to take the time and spend the money for the public good and to conserve our planet. Truly a breath of fresh air in our heated, corrupt political system today.
I much prefer the Prius when it's running on battery only. In fact, I'm fairly amazed when it's scooting near 40 mph on battery. The big challenge is getting a lot of power from electric drive. Recently asked a forklift operator which they prefer - propane or electric. This guy preferred propane since the electric forklift cannot handle really heavy loads. Same with the Prius - cannot drive up a hill on battery for example. Must be an amazing battery in the Tesla Roadster as it is very quick and fast.
+1 The thing is, whenever I've mentined this kind of charging structure, folks come along and pooh pooh it, and say, "NO, not until the battery lasts 300 miles, and charges in less than 15 minutes. (shaking head)
The improved battery technology will come and I get unbearably unpleasant when people use current ability to sidetrack a really good idea. Please note: I'm not accusing any of the previous posters of this. What I would like about the plug-in stations, would be plug-in Prii. Let me drive my car on electric when I can and then let the car switch to gas when needed. Yes, this is the Volt concept except that the HSD approach is far superior.
one of the considerations is where to plug in which has been discussed...but who's going to pay for it while charging. I think it would be good if workplace parking lots were able to put in a two way system. You can plug your car in and during peak hours, give the power back to the company, then have it recharge by the time you're scheduled off time is. I know it gets tricky, but this is going to be a pretty big hurdle to work out between power supply companies and individuals looking to plug in wherever.
Simple: coin-operated. Just like a parking meter. It costs me 2 cents a mile for the electricity to drive my Xebra. The Rav4EV (as a real-life example) is heavier, but more efficient. So would cost a bit less. Normally, you charge at home, paying regular rates. But if you need to charge away from home because you're driving farther than your EV range, an extra "fill" would cost less than you pay for parking. An EV is twice as efficient as a Prius, and electricity is cheaper than gas, so even at the inflated rates a parking-meter charge station would charge, you'd be ahead of the game.
I'd heard about PBP a while back, and while I think it's technologically feasible, I think it's economically unfeasible right now. At least with regards to the battery swap architecture. Too many things would need to be standardized, and LOTS of capital would be needed to build the infrastructure. Publicly available charging stations (connected to a Smart Grid) are more feasible, but would still be years away. I'd wager charging stations in ~5 years and a full on battery swap infrastructure in 10+.
The person charging will, with their cell phone. Just like vending machines in Japan. You text a code on the machine to a number and the amount is applied to your cell phone bill. Smart people those Japanese. I would hate to have to carry change to feed a meter.
Or a credit/debit card. A lot of parking meters these days will charge your card if you don't have coins.
