The Electric Car: A Viable Solution
“So how would you run a whole country without Oil?”
(Shai Agassi at a TED conference.)
A while back, The New York Times recognized the electric car as “ideal” because it was cleaner, quieter and more economical that gasoline-powered cars. This was in 1911. The issue of the carbon-footprint was no less alien than the mobile phone. A century later the Washington Post acknowledged that “the same unreliability of electric car batteries that flummoxed Thomas Edison persists today.”
According to Shai Agassi – the innovative Israeli Electric Car guru who rejected CEO-ship of SAP to run his company Better Place and “save the world” – cars make up 25% of the world’s CO2 emissions. He projects that this will only increase (twofold) as countries continue to manufacture ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles. On one hand, he pushes the projected shift from “molecules to electrons” on environmental grounds. On the other, he shows a keen awareness of the cynics’ concern with the bottom line.
The Unique Solution
As it stands, limitations – of 120 miles – on battery longevity seems to be the primary hump on the road to making our reliance on fossil fuels a thing of the past. Additionally, the fact that the economic and social infrastructure of certain countries makes a large-scale shift extremely difficult. Agassi combats this dilemma with a viable “batteries not included” solution. By separating car ownership from battery ownership he visualizes an infrastructure where people who do need to make long journeys can stop at the “battery station”, and swap it for another. Then, when people finish their journeys, they stop at re-charge bays. Furthermore, he feels that the $40,000 car is unsuitable when converting an entire country to the electric car. By removing the battery, the cost of manufacturing this technology is massively reduced – hence a much more affordable car.
The electricity produced by Better Place is clean (non-coal electrons) and turns out to be both cheaper and more efficient. Agassi says drivers will stop at battery stations less over the year, than they do for petrol. He’s so sure, that if that’s not the case, they start paying you. Everyone wins – except the oil syndicates. Over time, the Moore curve shows that price per eMile would continue to reduce as battery life-cycles and energy density improvements take effect. This is a rebirth for the car, he enthuses: christening it Car 2.0. Doesn’t that have a lovely ring to it!
Agassi intends to initiate his solution in countries he considers “islands”. Beginning with his homeland, Israel and moving on to Hawaii and Australia, it looks like he’s got a lot to contend with. Instead of having manufacturers work solely on the car, Better Place is developing a sustainable infrastructure that places equal focus on car, networks and services.
He’s only too aware that truly making the shift requires a major uprooting of infrastructure. Doing it in slow, tedious bits is simply not enough. He makes a brilliant, chilling analogy with British slavery. Before it’s abolition, about 25% of the British economy stemmed from slavery. The government proposed slowly freeing slaves in gradual stages, but instead, decided to abolish that evil in one fell swoop. The next year the industrial Revolution went into full swing and Britain entered a century of economic growth. Coincidence? Perhaps. It’s a motivating thought nonetheless.
The Urban Times is intrigued to know YOUR thoughts on Agassi’s solution. How viable would it be for your community?
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Wow! Thank you!
Wow! Thank you!
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Hi ‘Utahot”, It’s good to see that you take concern with the issue and can see the potential of this system of transport. I am just wondering what you meant by “celebrity agos” causing environmental damage. Did you mean egos, and if that’s the case would you please expand on your thoughts, as it might prove quite enlightening. Best, Alex
Hi ‘Utahot”, It’s good to see that you take concern with the issue and can see the potential of this system of transport. I am just wondering what you meant by “celebrity agos” causing environmental damage. Did you mean egos, and if that’s the case would you please expand on your thoughts, as it might prove quite enlightening. Best, Alex
The idea of electric vehicles is amazing, I can't get enough of it. In fact, I think it is one of the most important advances in many years. While cities such as Los Angeles continue to depend on car-oriented transit, there seemed to be no way to curb the effects this would have on the environment. The only issue that has arisen, in my eyes, is the stigma that has been created by celebrities. It has almost become a joke that better-than-thou celebs have ruined the benefits of electric cars with the environmental damage that their ever-inflating agos have done.....
The idea of electric vehicles is amazing, I can't get enough of it. In fact, I think it is one of the most important advances in many years. While cities such as Los Angeles continue to depend on car-oriented transit, there seemed to be no way to curb the effects this would have on the environment. The only issue that has arisen, in my eyes, is the stigma that has been created by celebrities. It has almost become a joke that better-than-thou celebs have ruined the benefits of electric cars with the environmental damage that their ever-inflating agos have done.....
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