Better Place Driving the Transition to Electric Vehicles
Better Place Driving the Transition to Electric Vehicles
In Washington State, a big step towards transition to electric vehicles (EVs) was achieved on Friday last week with the passage of SHB 1481. The new law is the first comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (EVI) in the U.S. (For legislative history and to review the provisions of the act, click here).
One of the major beneficiaries of the new law, Better Place, is envisioning a large-scale introduction of EVs around the world. The first targeted markets include the Bay Area, the Puget Sound region (Seattle) and Hawaii.
Better Place realizes that, in order to drive a successful transition to electric vehicles, significant infrastructure will need to be in place. Not only re-charging stations in parking lots and garages, but also battery exchange stations (BEX), which allow drivers to pull in and exchange a nearly depleted battery for a fully-charged one.
As explained on the Better Place website:
“The charging spots will keep the batteries topped off with power so that they always have 100 miles of driving capacity. They are located where you work, live, shop and dine in parking lots so that an electric car will have the ability to recharge when the software instructs it to top off.
For trips longer than 100 miles (161 km), battery switching stations will be available roadside. Stations are completely automated, and the driver’s subscription takes care of everything. The driver pulls in, and the depleted battery is quickly replaced with a fresh one, without anyone having to leave the vehicle. The process takes less time than it does to fill a tank of liquid fuel.”
And here’s the part that really gets us excited here at Build Baby Build… renewable energy!
“Because most electric vehicles will be charging during the evenings while at home, the batteries become distributed storage for clean electricity. In Israel, for example, excess power from the growing solar industry will be stored in the cars’ batteries.”
Plug into a Clean Future
The vehicles are powered solely by renewable energy, which should garner huge political support, as well as drawing in consumers that care about the environment and their bottom line. From there, recharging stations and BEXs will continue to be constructed, to help allow ease of transition to electric vehicles. Automakers here are encouraged by federal policy to consider new products, including EVs.
Personally, I think its going to happen. The U.S. is behind with respect to plug-in cars. Better Place raised over $100 million in Denmark to build out EV infrastructure in Copenhagen. Two foreign auto manufacturers are building a factory in Turkey to produce plug-in cars that can hold the Better Place-designed batteries for markets in Europe and Israel. The expected output will be 40,000 EVs a year. Many people here in the United States are eagerly waiting for the technology and infrastructure to come across the ocean. Just think of all the new green jobs that could result!
Encouraging and supporting the efforts to Build Baby Build the infrastructure to support large-scale, broad-based use of electric vehicles is necessary. Its just one more thing we can do to cut greenhouse gas emissions and get us off of foreign oil. So get involved with local politics in this regard. Invest your time, if not your money, for the EV industry.
Soon we can all be on the road to a cleaner, healthier planet.
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