The Unclear Future of Electric Cars
Will Replaceable Batteries Make Eco-Friendly Vehicles Viable?
08/17/2009 12:00 AM
Israel faces a number of long-term security issues, but perhaps one that gets a little less media attention is its need for oil.
That's where Shai Agassi comes in. The 41-year-old entrepreneur has a project that, he hopes, will do something substantial to lessen oil-related worries. From just outside Tel Aviv, Agassi runs Better Place, a company that aims to introduce electric automobiles and the infrastructure they require. He hopes to make this a reality in Israel by 2011 before spreading his idea around the world.
One of the two main problems with electric automobiles is their short ranges and their long recharging times. But Better Place dispenses with one of them. One of the key elements of the infrastructure it envisions is battery-replacement stations that can take empty batteries out of cars and replace them with fully charged ones in a matter of minutes.
The man behind the plan is no stranger to innovation. In record time, he went from being an amateur software programmer to a major cyberspace player. At 34, he was appointed to sit on the executive board of SAP, the German software giant.
Two years ago, Agassi founded Better Place with $200 million (€142 million) in startup capital. Then he reeled in some major-league investors, such as the investment bank Morgan Stanley, and caught the eye of a number of governments and energy corporations. In this short time, his project has already attracted interest from places as far away as Denmark, Hawaii and California.
The Search for Partners
The only thing missing is the car. Getting car manufacturers on board for the project is a fairly tall order. Almost all car companies and component suppliers don't like the plan for the same reasons. As they see it, the electronic elements of a vehicle are too closely interwoven with the battery to allow for batteries to be removed and replaced like a one-size-fits-all drawer.
Another problem is that car designers don't like the idea of having standardized measurements imposed on automobile components. The battery is the single most important component of an electrical car when it comes to determining its power capabilities. To standardize this one element would be to strip car manufacturers of their ability to make their products' performance abilities stand out from those of their competitors.
But one car company has agreed to help out. The Renault-Nissan alliance has declared itself ready to help manufacture the cars and battery-replacement stations envisioned in Agassi's plan. The French-Japanese company has never been particularly known as a motor of innovation. But now it might be the first company to carve out a place in the mass market for both a new motor technology and a new logistical structure for supplying the power these cars use. Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of both companies, has already stated that the alliance hopes to manufacture up to 100,000 electrical automobiles by 2012.
Despite these ambitions, the technology's current state of development does little to dispel skepticism about the larger plan. For example, in the near future, Renault plans to unveil a concept car whose battery boasts little more than half of the 24 kilowatt-hour capacity the company is ultimately aiming for.
However, Nissan did recently showcased a prototype of a battery-replacement station in Yokohama. The fully automated system disconnected and removed a battery placed beneath a Nissan Qashqai SUV before replacing it with a 250-kilogram (550-pound) battery it took off a conveyor belt. And it did it all in a little under 90 seconds.
The Cost Conundrum
So far, the company has been tight-lipped about how much it thinks the vehicle and the related infrastructure equipment will cost. But, in any case, it doesn't envision that drivers will be the ones to foot the bill for the expensive elements of the mobility plan. As the company envisions the project, customers will buy electric cars that are not outfitted with a battery, which will make them cheaper than conventional automobiles, and batteries will be available for rent.
As far as Marc Bodin -- who is overseeing Renault's electrical car strategy -- is concerned, that is currently the "only sensible marketing concept." By only renting the batteries, customers won't be locked into using just one type of battery but can, instead, take advantage of any technological advances arising over time. And what's more, he adds, this system will prevent any warranty issues from arising should battery performance decline.
Still, it is of vital importance for the manufacturer that the batteries last as long as possible. At current prices, the batteries that Renault intends to make will cost around €20,000 a piece. And even under the best of conditions, Bodin estimates that their cost of production will not drop below €7,000 a piece. Even then, it would still be the automobile's most expensive component.
It is exactly this factor that makes the battery-replacement concept tricky. Recharging a battery as gently as possible with a moderate current can take several hours. Quickly recharging the batteries in around 30 minutes is possible, but it puts a serious dent in battery life -- and the pocketbook of whoever owns them.
But Agassi's plan can only function with a quick-charging setup. Otherwise, the drive-in power stations would be too expensive because they would have to store thousands of batteries at different stages in the extended recharging process.
But perhaps that is why Israel is the perfect test market for Agassi and his plan. Israel's complicated relations with its neighbors, leaves little room for long car trips. And people who only travel short distances can usually just plug in and recharge their batteries at night. "We don't anticipate that customers will need to use the battery-replacement stations very often," Bodin says.
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