That time is likely to be reached only after the battery has carried an electric car about 200,000 miles or 2,000 cycles. But that’s not really the end for an EV battery – it’s just the beginning of a second life that not many people know about.

What options exist for a battery in second life? The first and most well-known option is recycling. While recycling is a great option to break down and reuse nearly all of the components and chemicals in the battery, there’s an even better option: use the remaining 80% of storage capacity to work in a different application.

Depending on the quality of the battery – something that can be determined statistically through the management of the batteries on our network, there are a number of applications where these batteries can add enormous value.

The highest quality second life batteries can continue to be used in electric cars: in cities or on islands where driving ranges are lower, for customers who prefer lower-range batteries at a discount, or in vehicles that would not support newer battery configurations.

High-to-medium quality batteries can be used as stationary energy storage in grid applications, either repacked into larger installations (at the megawatt level) or simply used as they are. One example of this is frequency regulation—using energy storage to maintain the proper frequency of the power grid by balancing second-to-second energy supply and demand.

Another example is energy arbitrage, in which end-users or grid service operators buy energy during the low-rate period, store the energy in batteries, and then sell the energy back during the high-rate period. Yet another use is generation smoothing for renewable energy. For instance, the off-peak energy generated by solar arrays and wind installations can be stored in batteries until they are needed and are able to fetch a higher price.

Additionally, EV battery packs can be tapped for community energy storage where a standard 24kWh pack is installed in houses or businesses to reduce local power consumption.

The lower quality batteries can be used in low-intensity applications. One such cluster of “low intensity” applications is to meet energy demand for people in developing countries who live in areas without an electric grid connection. The power requirements for such uses are relatively low- less than 5 kilowatts for cooking and small-plot irrigation and an order of magnitude less for lighting, cell phones and radios. Although seemingly small in scale, these few kilowatt-hours of energy are immensely valuable to these regions. For example, lighting can extend the day’s productivity and enable home education, cell phones can increase access to markets and banking, and automatic irrigation can greatly increase yields and efficiency on a small-plot farm. In these cases, battery modules (smaller components of the larger pack) can be used to provide a light, easily-transportable energy solution.

Although the second life battery market is in the exploratory/pilot phases, we are already seeing some promising applications in the works. For example, a joint venture between EnerDel and Itochu is deploying second life batteries as stationary energy storage in a Tokyo apartment complex. The batteries will be used for residential load-leveling, storage of energy during off-peak times for use during peak hours, as well as back-up power. Another Enerdel-Itochu application is using second life batteries in a photovoltaic solar power system that delivers energy to gas stations in Japan for powering electric cars. DTE Energy has deployed a pilot exploring the use of second life batteries as community energy storage, an approach to stabilizing the grid by placing small amounts of storage closer to the customer.

Electric utilities like Southern California Edison and DTE Energy are using huge battery packs built by A123Systems (up to 2 MWh, the equivalent of about 80 electric car batteries integrated into a shipping container) to store energy at large wind power and solar power sites. A123 and Altairnano have both provided batteries to AES for frequency regulation. While these applications currently use brand new batteries, second life batteries will represent an even higher profit potential when they reach the marketplace.

As the first company to manage large inventories of electric car batteries, Better Place will be the first to bring them to the second life market in a coordinated fashion, with complete, verified usage histories and quality diagnostics attached. Furthermore, our networked solution enables constant monitoring and early issue detection, and our pooled battery resource enables regular service and maintenance without fear of inconveniencing our customers.

Encouraging a healthy second life for our batteries is a good idea for many reasons: it lowers the effective cost of batteries by introducing a realizable residual value, and it maximizes the use we can derive from a fixed resource. We have the opportunity to lower the cost of integrating renewable energy into our electric grid through low-cost energy storage, so a battery can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by electrifying transportation in its first life and enabling renewable energy in its second life. Perhaps most inspiring is the opportunity to help the world’s disadvantaged populations. If we deploy second life batteries in developing countries, we can share a superior technology with these emerging markets, improving quality of life and helping to stimulate education and the economy, allowing others to reap the benefits of the electric car.

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This article cross-posted at Greentech Media.

At Better Place, we’re enthused at the growing momentum we’re seeing around battery switch from automakers and governments. It’s great to see Tesla embracing battery switch and the recent announcements by Chinese government officials that they have selected battery switch technology in combination with standard charging (instead of fast charge) as the preferred standard.

However, we need to clear up a common myth that our battery switch stations require that we make battery packs standardized. While Better Place is firmly in support of complying with international automotive and electrotechnical standards (and is even participating actively with the major standardization bodies to establish these standards where they don’t yet exist), we have always maintained that different automakers will require different battery form factors – both within their own product lines, and across companies.

From day one, accommodation of multiple battery types has been a core engineering requirement for our battery switch stations. We have made significant R&D investments to develop a toolkit/adapter in our battery switch stations that can anticipate and supply different battery types for different vehicles with different battery-to-vehicle connection mechanisms. Therefore, Better Place does not require one single standardized battery type. In fact, the only element that requires standardization is that the battery be removed from under the vehicle.

Battery switch technology opens up a new category for all car manufacturers to participate in and allows the OEMs to create a differentiated product that’s not tethered to a socket or the gas pump. It represents the quickest, most convenient means for zero-emission, range-extension for EV drivers.

In his inaugural speech yesterday, Bloomberg discussed how national governments have struggled to promote sustainability, and how it is up to the world’s great cities to fill the vacuum of leadership with decisive action. Where to start? Bloomberg pointed out that C40 member cities collectively have over 1 million taxis that could go electric. He said, “Think of that — a million-plus autos, the most iconic vehicles in our downtowns, that we can start to work together to make more efficient and less polluting.”

Bloomberg focused on the theme of progress evaluation, driving home the point that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” We couldn’t agree more. In addition to bringing a superior transport experience, electric taxis come with a tried and true built-in system for measuring success: the odometer.

We know exactly how much pollution is caused by each mile/km of a gas-powered taxi, and we know exactly how much pollution is saved by each mile/km that is powered by electricity. When powered by renewable sources, we’re looking at nearly 100% emissions reduction; but even when powered by coal, we still achieve reductions of around 50% due to the inherent efficiency of the electric motor.

As the world’s great cities put their electric taxi rollout plans into effect under Bloomberg’s leadership, they are starting to look at our Tokyo Electric Taxi Project, which we launched last April to demonstrate switchable-battery EVs in the marketplace for the first time. Recently extended for an additional three months, the project shows how EVs – and electric taxis in particular – can make a major impact in terms of reducing emissions. In Tokyo, for example, taxis make up only 2% of passenger vehicles, but are responsible for 20% of the city’s transport emissions. And here in the host city of Hong Kong, transportation creates 50% of the ground level pollution with taxis and light delivery vehicles alone accounting for more than half of that.

By electrifying our cities’ taxis, we not only take a chunk out of harmful emissions, but also deliver a fast, silent, efficient – almost futuristic – way to travel. Having clocked over 25,000 miles during the demonstration so far, 97% of passengers reported a very positive experience, and 73% said that when they ride a taxi, they want it to be electric. As Bloomberg points out, starting with the taxi segment maximizes the number of people who can experience the future of transportation and get them primed to adopt EVs themselves.

Now, C40 is watching switchable-battery electric taxis come to the San Francisco Bay Area to cement the region as the EV capital of the U.S. Seeing the success of the project in Tokyo – both in terms of emissions reduction and quality of life – the U.S. Department of Transportation (via the Metropolitan Transportation Commission “MTC”) awarded us a major grant to help us launch the U.S. taxi project. After analyzing a variety of proposals, the MTC decided on the Better Place approach based on its ability to move the needle the most on emissions reduction, mentioning that the application scored the highest marks of all filings.

The C40 meeting is now winding down in this Asian business hub, the center of a region from which many next-generation transportation solutions will emerge. As the mayors from the world’s greatest cities prepare to depart, I am eager to see how their experiences here translate into policy and action at home.

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This is assuming the vehicle is charged using the Australian electricity grid’s average emissions. The new mid-sized electric Renault Fluence ZE, for example, requires about 0.16 kilowatt-hours per kilometre to recharge. Compare this with the similar-sized petrol-powered Toyota Camry that uses 8.8lt/km and you will find that the electric car’s carbon dioxide emissions per kilometre are close to 30 per cent lower when powered by Australian grid-average electricity. Even when compared with the new petrol Fluence running on premium fuel, the electric car emits about 20 per cent less CO2 per kilometre.

This comparison factors in the emissions generated upstream from coal-fired power plants and includes the losses from the electricity transmission and distribution networks. It also factors in the ”well-to-tank” emissions of petrol cars including emissions from petrol refining and distribution. Based on this, the fact is clear: electric vehicles deliver significantly lower carbon emissions than similar-sized petrol cars. Of course, an electric car run on clean, renewable electricity will deliver zero emissions driving and will only cost an extra 1c per kilometre. On top of this, they emit no toxic air pollutants, which helps reduce smog and make our cities cleaner and healthier. Critically, electric vehicles will also use domestically produced energy rather than imported oil, which helps restore Australia’s overall energy independence.

The task group’s report correctly identified passenger vehicles as a priority for improvements to our national energy efficiency: the sector produces about 8 per cent of Australia’s national CO2 emissions each year. The report also sensibly highlighted the value of mandatory light vehicle emissions standards and government fleet emissions standards, both of which will be important in improving the carbon footprint of Australia’s vehicle fleet along with air quality and our reliance on imported oil. The report should have gone further though and recommended a clear policy preference for electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles can deliver significant reductions in carbon emissions today and they provide the only way to achieve zero- emissions driving, dramatically cleaner air and complete energy independence in the future. One more significant benefit that means they should be at the heart of any plan for improved carbon emissions is that they can help significantly lower the carbon intensity of the grid.

Unlike almost every other electrical appliance, electric cars draw energy then store it to use at a later time. Most cars are parked more than 20 hours a day and when they are parked, most electric cars will have batteries that are three-quarters full or more. Given this, electric vehicle operators have a great deal of flexibility as to when the cars draw power. This demand for power can then be intelligently managed to match the intermittent output of wind and solar farms.

Given the carbon emissions reductions, the benefits of oil independence, the improvements to urban air quality and the support electric vehicles provide to renewable electricity, governments around the world, including the United States, Britain, China, Japan, France, Spain, Denmark and Israel are strongly supporting consumers in their decision to switch to electric vehicles. We are already lagging behind the rest of the world on these measures. Australia must act quickly to support the adoption of electric cars, or risk being left behind as the rest of world makes the switch.

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This post originally published in The Canberra Times on Wednesday 20 October 2010, co-authored by Alan Finkel, CTO of Better Place Australia, and Andrew Simpson, senior research fellow at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute.

A lot has transpired to make this vision a reality and to bring us to the cusp of our commercial launch in Israel and Denmark. We’ve demonstrated that the technology and solution are real. With Renault, we’ve partnered to deliver the first, mass-market, switchable-battery EV, and we’ve built a strong supply chain with partners like Intel, Microsoft, Flextronics, and Continental. We’ve received significant financial validation from some of the world’s most conservative institutions (HSBC, Lazard Asset Management, Morgan Stanley Investment Management) in the form of one of the largest clean tech investments to date, to support our first markets. The addition of a world-class company like GE is another strong validation and a great opportunity for both companies to ensure that EVs reach their full potential.

The partnership with GE, one of the world’s largest and most well-regarded companies, marks a major milestone toward achieving our mission. Combining GE’s global scale and expertise in renewables, utility and smart grid technology with Better Place’s EV solution and services brings us one big step closer to introducing to the global market a clean, modern transportation and energy option.

The details of our recently announced partnership with GE are described in this press release, but I would like to provide some first-hand insight on what this partnership means.

Four pillars underline the collaboration:

Standards-based technology collaboration

First, we are working together to integrate our complementary software and hardware technology portfolios to bring the best-in-class EV charging solution based on global standards. Specifically, the creation of interfaces between GE’s WattStation and Better Place’s backend systems to ensure interoperability, i.e., seamless roaming between charge spot networks.

Battery financing

Second, starting with Israel and Denmark, we will work together to establish an initial battery-financing program for 10,000 batteries enabling Better Place to meet projected demand for the EV network in our first markets, helping bring the first 10,000 electric cars to drivers in those countries.

Fleet electrification

Third, we are working together to develop a fleet electrification package aimed at corporate vehicle fleets in North America, Europe, Australia and other places so fleet owners can enjoy both the economic and environmental benefits of going electric. As we have witnessed in Israel where 60% of the new car sales are to fleets and in Japan where we first introduced the electric taxi solution in a commercial environment, fleets are both an attractive market segment as well as an effective consumer education tool.

Consumer awareness

Finally, as both companies recognize the need and opportunity in educating the public about the attributes and benefits of EVs, we are forming a joint market development team with GE’s ecomagination initiative to raise awareness and drive adoption. For us at Better Place, joining hands with the world acclaimed ecomagination program is a unique opportunity that we are sure will benefit both companies and a broad set of customers alike.

Overall, the partnership with GE is as natural as it is exciting. GE’s electric heritage, enormous global footprint, 100+ year history in technology and manufacturing leadership, and commitment to cleantech innovation make them the perfect partner to accelerate the confident adoption of EVs around the world.

It is also our latest opportunity to demonstrate our open approach to the ecosystem and our desire to jointly develop it. We believe and hope that this example and other partnerships such as with Renault, HSBC, Flextronics, Intel, Microsoft, Continental and now GE will be joined by others as we continue the journey toward a sustainable future.

We look forward to keeping you apprised of developments as the future unfolds.

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Great, well, those who read this right now probably have no idea what I’m talking about, since this project is mostly mentioned in business magazines, and the truth is that my generation prefers to read magazines that are focused on a younger audience, dealing with simpler issues.

The reason I decided to write this article is that I believe wholeheartedly in the project that I’ll describe in more depth soon, and I really do think that a significant part of its ultimate success will be dependent on our generation – the younger generation that will define at the end of the day how the world will look tomorrow and the coming years. In short, if you care, keep reading. And if you don’t care, read it and you’ll start caring.

Bar Refaeli at the Better Place Center. This article originally written for Maarive Newspaper, and first published in Rating Magazine in Israel on August 11, 2010.

Running on empty

One Tel Aviv evening in July, I met up at the neighborhood bar with a few friends that came from the United States to Israel for a month. Young guys, assertive, entrepreneurial and caring, that started together a group that is called “Summit Series,” which connects young brains and encourages the younger generations to succeed in life in general, and in business in particular. At first, they struck me like a typical bunch of guys who came to Tel Aviv to party and enjoy themselves. When I asked them what impressed them most during their visit to the Holy Land, their answer was “Shai Agassi” (not before they admitted they’d like to live here, since “there’s no place in the world like Tel Aviv”). The answer surprised me. I didn’t understand how they would have known the name, and even more so I couldn’t understand how they ended up getting to meet him in the first place.

For myself, I first learned of Shai Agassi completely accidentally. One day I was hanging out at a girlfriend’s place, bored, and after I read all the newspaper I had nothing left but the business section. I ran across an article about Agassi, and when I read it I was surprised to read that it speaks of an Israeli success story of a young man with an ambition to change the world. The article described Agassi as being part of a tiny minority of people who can actually turn dreams into reality. He founded Better Place out of a goal to turn Israel into a country that is independent of oil (and along the way lead to similar efforts elsewhere, of course), by building the network infrastructure that enables electric vehicles.

I did a bit of research with my friends and found out most of my friends weren’t aware of the problems oil poses to the world. First of all, oil is one of the greatest pollutants in the world. The oil we find today (or, more accurately, drill deep into the Earth to find) has been there for millions of years, but the truth is that we may use up all we have very soon – and that will be a very big problem. Why? Because today we use oil (and its derivatives) to make almost everything – let alone the masses of oil required by the drilling machines we run to find more oil. Oil today is responsible for 35% of air pollution; of that, 25% comes from cars that are perpetually polluting the air we all breathe—leading to sickness and death.

As the world population grows (and it’s growing at the rhythm of the samba), it uses more and more energy that originates in oil and is warming up the Earth faster and faster. Some of the results include melting glaciers, hurricanes, floods, and damage to agriculture, flora, and fauna. Remember Hurricane Katrina? Then you’re starting to get it.

Another anticipated effect of global warming is rising sea levels—pay attention all of you who are dreaming of one day living on the sea. Yet another problem: most of the oil originates in the Middle East, and no, not in Israel. That means that Israel is dependent mostly on historically unfriendly countries for our own oil. And we’re not just dependent on them – we’re funding them. That means that if we aren’t so dependent on oil, we won’t be so dependent on them and we could, perhaps, open a new door for peace. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Heal the world

Ok, let’s get back to our story. Those friends of mine at the bar made the introduction to Shai, who was kind enough to host me at his center. I got there, curious, little-knowing, and left full of knowledge and ambition. Shai started the visit with the phrase, “You just came to the last gas station.” There’s a reason why the center was built at Pi Glilot, one of the round storage tanks that we all have seen used to store gasoline for Israel. Today it is used to explain how the electric car is going to work, running on electric batteries that need zero oil. Yes, zero.

After a short conversation with Shai I got in the car to check it out. At first, I thought that the car didn’t work, since nothing seemed to happen when I I turned it on. And then Shai explained to me, smiling, that electric cars make no noise. And beyond that – I can program it so it sounds like a Lamborghini. We started driving. Shai told me to press the acceleration all the way, but since my mom was in the backseat (although my mom is one of the smartest women I know, I felt she too needs a bit of education on the environment) it was a bit of a problem. I decided to just trust him when he says the car goes 0-100km/h in 8 seconds.

I won’t try to sell you the car and say that driving it is smooth, stable, and extremely high quality, because I don’t sell cars (at least, not yet). What I will say is that afterwards I did watch the short movie that poses the problem, offers the solution, and explains the infrastructure built by the company that will make it…you guessed it, a better place.

The movie was simple, clear, and more than anything got me anxious and worried. It seems that’s the feeling you get when you know something big is approaching.

The electric vehicle already exists in the world. This invention is not the car itself. The innovation is the holistic solution that the infrastructure offers. I would call it the “recycling bin effect.”

I remember since I was little I always asked my mom why she doesn’t recycle. When I started spending a lot of time outside Israel and I learned more, it started bothering me more – and her answer wasn’t logical: she didn’t recycle because she didn’t know where. After all, she won’t drive around with plastic bottles in her trunk for months until she spots a recycling bin.

Today she recycles everything, from paper and aluminum cans to all sorts of plastic. I would be happy to take credit and say that it’s because I was such a pest, but no. The reason is simple: there are recycling bins on every corner, period.

Agassi’s project is similar in some respects. Electric cars will charge using a short cable, from outlet to car, just like you charge your phone. The same charge points will be underneath or outside your home, at your work, and also – just like recycling bins – in cities, parking lots, shopping malls, etc. The moment charge points are widely accessible, driving all the way to the gas station to fill up won’t seem so easy.

If I was clear enough so far, and I got you interested for real, I’m sure you’ll start asking questions like, “How much time is the battery good for?” “What would happen when you have to go far?” or “How long does it take to fill up from empty?” For all those there are answers, and they’re all easily accessible, smart, interesting, and efficient. But I won’t tell it here, because what I want to do here at the end of the day is to get you to go see it yourself, since there’s nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. I suggest all of you take the initiative and go check out the short tour of the Center. Before the revolution can happen more widely, it must first happen with us, in our minds and in our souls. It’s important to learn more about the topic, to understand and to advance toward a significant change, and it is our responsibility to take part in it.

Now it’s your turn

Like I said, I’m full of energy to help this project since it will help all of us – me, you, and all coming generations. The idea is not mine, the realization definitely not mine, but since I have the opportunity to have this voice, I am working hard to get the message to the right places. That’s why I wrote this special report. I want to use my voice and invite you to pass it on. We all have influence here or there, small or big, and any influence is welcome. Someone very smart (my mother, Tzipi Refaeli) told me once, “If you give, you get back double.”

When I was little I thought if I gave away one bag of Bamba, she’d buy me two more. When I grew up, I realized she meant a different type of giving. From the love I give to my friends I feel that I get back the whole world and more. From giving to those who have less I feel even better, because I get back so much more. From giving back to the environment, and from the very fact that I share this story with everyone I meet… well, just go there yourselves and you’ll understand how I feel.

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This article originally written for Maarive Newspaper, and first published in Rating Magazine in Israel on August 11, 2010.

During his visit, Senator Lieberman marveled at the impact that Better Place’s success could have on the two issues that many would say have defined his long public service – security and environment. While his emphasis on the former has historically landed him in trouble with Democrats, his passion to combat climate change dates back to long before it was in vogue, often irking Republicans. What everyone can agree on is that ending oil dependence resolves a broad swath of problems that cut across traditional partisan ideologies.

Most of the 20,000 people who have come to the Better Place Center in the six months since it opened, just outside of Tel Aviv, are ordinary Israeli car-owners, gaining an understanding of how choosing their next car can also enlist them in a powerful global mission. After being welcomed to the visually-striking facility, visitors are given a brief but powerful multimedia presentation recapping the problems wrought by dependence on oil, and demonstrating how making the switch to electric could save them both time and money – and save the planet for their grandchildren. Next, all licensed visitors have a chance to drive a prototype electric vehicle on a test track – long enough for them to test its power and acceleration. Finally, visitors get an up-close demonstration of how Better Place makes electric vehicles unlimited in range – by switching depleted batteries for fully charged ones in just minutes.

It’s a powerful message for people thinking about their next car. But it’s also powerful for decision-makers setting plans and policies for governments and industries. So it’s small wonder that the Center has also become a magnet for government and industry leaders from countries the world over.

For example, the same week Senator Lieberman visited, Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado, who has distinguished his term with an emphasis on economic growth through a cleaner economy, came to the Center. Other American officials who have come include the Deputy Secretary of State, Jacob Lew, who was recently appointed the White House Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Dr. Eric Lander, co-chair of the White House Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

In recent weeks, visitors from other countries have included Parliamentary delegations from Canada and El Salvador, 25 members of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India, and an international group of professors representing 30 universities in 18 countries. The Center has received heads of state from Panama and Estonia, diplomats from Korea, mayors from France, venture capitalists from China, ministers from Australia, Belize, Colombia, Lithuania and Luxemburg. Staff from many of the Embassies located nearby have come, and later encouraged their visiting colleagues to take a tour as well. Additionally, dozens of student and organizational groups from the US and many other countries around the world come regularly to the Center.

Invariably, visitors from abroad have also visited Israel’s most important historic sites dating back many thousands of years, provoking a near-universal appreciation for encountering on the same trip the very distant past, and the very dramatic future.

Better Place opened the Center primarily to educate local future consumers. But, passionate as everyone at Better Place is about the mission of ending oil, we are delighted that so many of the influential women and men drawn to visit Israel for such a wide variety of reasons, have also found the glimpse into the future of energy that the Center offers to be inspiring in its own right.

And we encourage you to come to Israel and see the Center for yourself!

Unlike most of the IT-related companies that can achieve instant propagation through internet and software tools (and often with smaller required investment), many cleantech startups operate in a more capital-intensive environment often characterized by long time horizons and capital outlays for hardware development, testing and deployment. Given these differences, cleantech companies require investors with a different profile: the ability to deploy large amounts of capital, often over multiple rounds, and to look beyond a 5-10 year timeframe.

In exchange for heavy investment of money and time, investors expect significant return. To achieve returns commensurate with cleantech investors’ expectations, it is critical to develop a “winning formula” that can be scaled up to achieve return multiples.

For Better Place, scalability is about combining economies of scale with replicability (simultaneously going to market in multiple regions while addressing the characteristics unique for each). In addition, given the nature of deploying the infrastructure, mistakes are very costly, hence optimization and best practices transfer are the third part of our scalability approach.

To achieve economies of scale, we have established a global company that is in charge of the global aspects of our business such as relationships with automotive manufacturers, battery manufacturers, our global brand, R&D, etc. These are functions in which we can favorably leverage purchasing power and expertise to the benefit of the entire organization.

In turn, for replicability, we establish a subsidiary (Operating Company or OpCo) in each of our markets. The OpCo is in charge of the local go-to-market strategy and execution, as their local expertise, connections and market knowledge make them best equipped to understand and address the local market dynamics. These teams take our most updated approach and implement it given the specific market conditions. And all of this while leveraging the global organization’s economies of scale.

The abovementioned approach might seem similar to other models already being practiced in other places. This is true, however from the deep research we have conducted, we know that what really differentiates Better Place is how we go about implementing this model. What is unique about our implementation is the combination of our organizational approach and expertise-sharing mechanisms.

Organizational approach: to ensure that all of the OpCos aim along the same overarching vector and to maintain a common culture, we established a dedicated team called “OpCo Enablement,” entrusted with the relationship between the global company and OpCos around the world. In this team, we serve OpCos as a conduit to the global organization and provide the global office with a portfolio view of our OpCos. This team’s account managers lead cross-functional groups from within the global organization to engage with the local OpCos on aspects ranging from go-to-market design to detailed project implementation. At the same time, these cross-functional teams are the carriers of our collective expertise to the OpCos, which leads me to the next aspect: expertise-sharing mechanisms.

While developing expertise in rolling out infrastructure and services, OpCos are equipped with our expertise sharing mechanism, internally coined as Better-in-a-Box, to relate emerging best practices across the global organization quickly and efficiently. This mechanism ensures that all regions around the world have real-time access to the latest and greatest internal company thought processes, methodologies and tools, regardless of where they originated, and that newly formed OpCos have instant access to the cumulative knowledge of all others that have come before them.

An example of how this mechanism works is the deployment methodology that we have developed to roll out our solution infrastructure. As lessons are learned in one region about key deployment elements and nuances, the company gains valuable insights, expertise and competitive advantages that are captured as best practices and quickly leveraged in other regions. This deployment methodology was created in place during our initial deployments in Denmark and Israel and has since paid significant dividends in terms of increasing operational efficiencies and reducing cost in our deployments in other regions. Better-in-a Box has now been implemented across a full spectrum of functional areas that will similarly benefit from sharing best practices

For me, Better Place, with its inspiring mission and ambitious goals, is an example of the new era corporation, one that requires scale and agility more than ever. Driving the right balance between the two requires the right strategy but, more than that, ruthless execution. This is what we are focusing on every day.

Exciting times are ahead, we’ll learn more as we go, and we’ll be happy to share our philosophies and practices with the world as they develop.

I’m thoroughly heartened when I read statements from Big Oil about the “many barriers” that must be overcome before electrons can make a significant dent in a mobility sector dominated by petroleum. Heartened because as recently as two years ago I would have been hard pressed to find any commentary at all from the oil majors about transport electrification. Back then, the tune was all about the prospects for second generation biofuels and the supposed holy grail that is hydrogen. But today, barely an eyebrow is raised when senior executives from the likes of ExxonMobil or Shell claim that electric cars hold genuine future promise, but not before we decarbonise the power supply. In other words: “You EV guys are very well meaning – and we wish you well – but until the world stops burning coal, allow motor manufacturers to continue tinkering with incremental efficiency gains while we drill, baby, spill!”.

The decarbonised grid storyline is becoming the new conventional wisdom. And like much conventional wisdom, when examined closely it turns out to be patent nonsense, though on the surface it appears reasonable. We begin to understand why it is flawed when we examine what I call the Four Truths that we can hold to be self-evident. They hold whenever we elect to set fire to carbon-based fuels in order to benefit from motorised kilometres:

(1) Large is better than small

- Megawatt (MW) scale plants are able to run hotter, therefore more efficiently, than the kilowatt (kW) scale engines that power motor cars. This truth has its roots firmly in the basic laws of thermodynamics, which are not subject to revision.

(2) Constant load is better than variable load

- Combustion facilities have an optimal operating efficiency that is achievable more or less continuously in a power plant. In vehicles, the engine speed is seldom constant, as it is dictated by the variable driving conditions.

(3) Stationary is better than mobile

- In practical terms it is far easier to manage, collect, and process combustion emissions from stationary plants than from mobile vehicle tailpipes.

(4) Few is better than many

- The greater the number of emissions sources, the harder it becomes to do anything about them.

Notice that truths (1) and (2) relate to energy efficiency, while (3) and (4) are all about emissions control – this is why (1) and (4) are not merely different ways of expressing the same point. And what should we conclude from these truths? It is better to burn fuel – be it coal, crude oil, natural gas, or biomass – in hundreds of large, stationary power plants running at constant speed rather than millions of small, mobile internal combustion engines running variably. Put differently, all else being equal electricity beats liquid fuels on energy efficiency and emissions control.

The real killer for Big Oil is that for years we’ve been led to believe that petroleum was too valuable to turn into electricity. It’s true only if your core business is shackled to the liquid transport fuel paradigm. From an energy efficiency, energy security and environmental perspective, crude oil is far too valuable to waste in automobiles. The same goes for coal, natural gas, and biomass. Biofuels – the tenuous lifeline of the liquid fuel company – break against the rocks here. Far better to convert the biomass into heat and electricity to displace dirty coal.

So back to the conventional wisdom. Let’s imagine a world in which 100% of our primary energy comes from fossil fuels. Electric mobility wins, hands down. But of course, we don’t live in such a world. The world we live in has a steadily decarbonising electricity supply, while oil majors are forced to exploit ever-more exotic and energy-intensive forms of black gold. They’ll have a helluva job making diesel or gasoline from wind turbines and solar panels.

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Dr. Gary Kendall is Executive Director at SustainAbility, a hybrid consultancy and think tank with offices in the US, UK and India. He is also author of Plugged In: The End of the Oil Age.

Today, there is hope that this is about to change.

Democratic and Republican members of the House and the Senate just introduced the Electric Vehicle Deployment Act (EVDA), a plan to speed mass adoption of zero-oil, zero-emission electric vehicles, and to put the U.S. into the global race for sustainable transportation.

Automobile companies around the world are calling electrification of the light-duty vehicle fleet “inevitable.” Countries like China and France are aggressively directing policy to take advantage of what they see as an opportunity to do more than reduce their emissions and dependence on oil, but to capture an enormous economic prize. Now, U.S. policymakers have showed up late to the party – but not yet too late for them to lead.

The bill, introduced by Senators Dorgan (D-ND), Alexander (R-TN), Merkley (D-OR), and Representatives Markey (D-MA) and Biggert (R-IL), seeks to accelerate EV adoption by allowing regions to compete for federal funding to build out model EV ecosystems, including infrastructure deployment and consumer incentives to switch to EVs.

One of the most laudable elements of the bill is its recognition of the multidisciplinary approach required to lead the EV revolution. The “ABCs” of electrification are Automobiles, Batteries and Charging networks – but with relatively low gas prices making dirty driving cheaper in the U.S. than most places in the world, these must also be accompanied by “D” – driving consumer Demand.

Policy has an important role to play in the development of the “EV ecosystem,” the combination of automakers, electric utilities, third-party operators, and consumers that produce, service and drive EVs. The right mix of policy prescriptions can create the necessary conditions for the inception, growth and eventual incumbency of this ecosystem. The wrong mix could result in a temporary surge of EV connectivity, followed by a long period of EV inactivity.

Conceiving the right policy mix starts with considering the binding constraints that inhibit both the inception and growth of the EV ecosystem. In our view, these are (1) cost of EV batteries, (2) technological risk of owning EV batteries, and (3) EV range limitation.

The right approach to relaxing these constraints is simple, but it is not simplistic. The constraints have to be viewed as an interrelated package to be solved by a system, not a list of problems to be solved independently.

For example, consumer incentives (e.g., tax credits, cash rebates, etc.) will be key to driving adoption by relaxing the EV battery cost constraint, but it is unknown how long political support will be there to keep the incentives in place. Supporting deployment of EV charging infrastructure will be key to adoption as well, but it is not sufficient to relax perhaps the most critical constraint to EV adoption: range limitation. All the charging stations in the world cannot solve the problem of how to drive an EV from San Francisco to Los Angeles without spending an inordinate amount of time on “refueling.”

The system that solves this package of problems involves separating the battery from the vehicle (relaxing constraints 1 and 2) and enabling instant range extension through automated battery switch (relaxing constraint 3). This system makes EVs both affordable and convenient, and is possible only through a 3rd party operator that manages an inventory of batteries, manages a charging network, and coordinates with utilities to optimize energy use.

We’ve seen the global automakers make a strong commitment to electric cars, and as a country we’ve made big bets on battery innovation. But infrastructure has been the missing piece of the puzzle. One laudable element of the EVDA is that it represents a technology-neutral approach focused on deployment, recognizing that we have the technologies today to go electric. The bill also recognizes the role of third party operators in enabling a systemic approach to overcoming barriers to EV adoption, such as range, price and convenience – ultimately creating the best conditions for broad EV adoption.

By making policy advancements around a national electrification strategy, Congress is helping to strengthen the U.S. position in the global shift to electric cars. If adopted, this legislation will help send a clear signal to the world that the U.S. is taking the lead in the electrification of transport.

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See related: Better Place Applauds Bipartisan Effort to put US into the Global EV Race