How to redesign the world

January 25th, 2010

Were in a mess, right? Let’s start over

The company is called “Better Place”, and that’s exactly what they have set out to do – to transform the world into a better place. Their plan is to create vast networks of charge spots to power electric cars – and heavy venture capital money is pouring in. Just today they received $350 million from HSBC who are leading the new round of financing, contributing $125 million in exchange for a 10 percent stake in Better Place. That gives Better Place a market value of $1.25 billion.

How it all started

It all started when one man, talking in a think tank, said, “Oil is finished. It may still be coming out of the ground but the world doesn’t want it any more.” One thing led to another and the idea of forming an electric grid was raised, and from there on the ideas grew wings, took off and flew. Then the talk was about cars, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, batteries and finally electrics.

The financing

The idea just grew and grew. “It could be a game-changer in its sector the way Google and Microsoft were in theirs,” said Anthony Bernbaum, global head of special opportunities for HSBC. Before that happens, though, Better Place and its backers will have to persuade consumers to move away from the internal-combustion engines that characterized motor vehicles for more than a century, while also winning the support of major automakers.

It’s a tall order

Even with the new funds, that’s a tall order. So far, only Renault has publicly endorsed Better Place’s plan, agreeing to supply cars with easy-to-swap batteries and working closely with the company to reach its 2011 commercial debut. Regardless, industry experts say huge fleets of electric cars are likely to hit the road in the coming decade.

The plan

Under Better Place’s plan, consumers would buy electric vehicles made by the big automakers but get the batteries from Better Place and pay a fee according to the distance they drive. The blueprint calls for thousands of conventional charge points, as well as switching stations where a robotic device could replace a battery in less time than it takes to fill a tank of gas. These stations are needed because batteries have a range of only about 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, and recharging takes up to five hours. Changing batteries en route would make long journeys more convenient.

More money

Better Place will most likely require billions more in financing. This investment is an important step for the company and its chief, Shai Agassi, an Israeli-American software executive who founded the company in 2007. “Better Place is a huge experiment in how you sell and fuel vehicles, and these investors are becoming convinced this will make money,” said Rod Lache, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. “It is a financial validation. Now we need to see technical validation and consumer validation.”

Imagine

Can you imagine a world of silent, pollution-free electric cars?

Payday Advance Cash Advance

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 10:49 am and is filed under Personal / Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website