Giving new meaning to the term “service station”, Better Place has launched its services in Denmark, Israel and Australia, with smaller tests in other countries. The model is battery switching (when yours is down, just switch for another) for electric vehicles, with power coming from green services such as wind or solar energy (depending on country, geography, etc…).
A recent ride in a new Renault showed how this technology gets totally over the issue of range anxiety by providing changing stations and charging pods, strategically located. Recharge at home or office, switch on the road. This is the combination envisaged by Better Place.
I think this model lasts as long as battery powered vehicles are under 250 miles in capacity and recharges take 30 minutes. Yet as we know, longer ranges and speedier charges are coming, so I figure they have 5 years to get this model to where its of value for more than just battery switching.
The payment model is a subscription, like mobile phones, which gives you access to battery power for a certain number of miles, after which you pay more. Similar models are already being used in the solar industry, where solar as a service is being promoted through lease packages. And while the huge utilities sleep, retailers of energy services are sprouting everywhere…the power of innovation cannot be stifled…
Sass