Switching on the electric-car market

The advantages of separating ownership of electric car and battery.

In the article “Driving up demand for electric cars” (3-9 March), you maintain that the short-term outlook for electric vehicles in Europe is poor, largely because of the high cost of batteries and the limited range of these cars. 

We could not agree more – which is why, in a model created by Better Place and our partner Renault, we separate ownership of the car and the battery.

This is a model that should make electric cars affordable, mass-market products. Indeed, consumers have the prospect of a transport option that is more affordable, more convenient and more sustainable than today’s non-electric cars.

Battery-switch technology, which recently received approval from the European Commission, eliminates the need for consumers to buy an electric-vehicle battery, reducing costs and the technology risk.

Our vision for zero-emission mobility is coming to fruition in Denmark. There, we are deploying a network of switch stations, where batteries can be exchanged in less time than it takes to fill up with petrol. Danish consumers who own both a Renault Fluence Z.E. car and a subscription to Better Place services will, we project, find it 10%-20% cheaper to purchase, power and service the electric sedan than to buy, maintain and fuel a petrol- or diesel-based car.

Because batteries can be charged overnight, when the wind tends to blow more, the Better Place model also encourages the use of renewable-energy sources.

Battery-powered electric cars therefore give utilities a compelling reason to make more use of renewable energy. This would, by default, help to de-carbonise the grid.

From an overall policy and trade perspective, switching to electric transport has the obvious benefits of reducing Europe’s burgeoning oil addiction while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and increasing the supply of renewable-power generation.

This kind of ‘green’ infrastructure project is exactly what Europe needs in order to create jobs domestically and improve Europe’s overall global competitiveness vis à vis China in particular, which has made the electric vehicle one of the seven pillars of Chinese industry in its recently approved five-year plan.

This model ought to end the debate about whether electric vehicles are too expensive and too limited in appeal. The serious discussion now should be a dialogue about the opportunities that this model offers consumers, policymakers and Europe.

Joe Paluska

Better Place

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Palo Alto, California