Welcome to the vision of Shai Agassi. Shai Agassi, former president of Sap AG’s Product and Technology Group (PTG), is the man behind the incredible vision of the company Better Place, a leader in the race to electric cars. With a system of battery replacement and charging stations (designed to automatically take out your old battery and install a new one in minutes), Better Place aims to create a quick and easy way to recharge your electric car. Best of all, Agassi plans to have him drive his electric car for almost free, leaving the company to profit from recharging and replacing the batteries. The concept is similar to what many mobile phone service providers offer: a phone that’s almost free, as long as you pay them for your calls.
So where is this amazing idea at the moment? Better Place has signed contracts to implement its system in several US states, as well as Australia, Ontario and Israel, with more than 25 regions and countries interested. Renault-Nissan has already agreed to build the cars and has delivered a prototype based on the Renault Mégane.
Earlier this year, Better Place demonstrated the capabilities of its battery replacement stations for Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, with amazing results. The station, which is set up much like gas stations, managed to remove the test car’s old battery and insert a new, fully recharged battery in less than two minutes. Two minutes! That’s less time than it takes to fill up the tank of your average sedan at a regular gas station.
We can only hope that Better Place continues to build on this great idea and continue to make such remarkable progress on the path to making our world a truly better place.
