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Will Israeli inventor's electric car be the smooth ride it claims to be? By Daniel Schmil Tags: electric car, Shai Agassi  The PR office of the Better Place company recently won a prize for the best campaign of the year. During the past year, the electric car invented by Israeli Shai Agassi, the company's founder and CEO, has become one of the most discussed topics in the media. Agassi's initiative needed PR to create the right "buzz" - that very public interest that would attract investors and allow him to ask for concessions from the regulatory authorities. And he received them: An inter-ministerial committee has recommended that the tax on cars that do not cause direct pollution be only 10 percent. The campaign exploited increasing competition among Israeli newspapers for "exclusive" items and "first publication" rights, slowly releasing more and more details about the budding initiative. Other bodies joined in later as well, such as municipal authorities keen to become a part of the craze for electric cars, expressing their desire to cooperate with Agassi and his company. Advertisement Yet, if we ignore the background noise, "Shai Agassi's electric car" project is made up of three parts: The first is an initiative to establish a network that includes electrical outlets and "charging stations" in accessible places, to allow travelers to charge their car on the street or in a parking lot. There is nothing new in this: Similar networks have already been established in cities like London. Such a set-up allows for charging the batteries of certain kinds of newfangled urban vehicles that are becoming the main means of transportation around the world. Realizing this part of the initiative is relatively easy. Locally, such services are, after all, dependent on the electricity produced by the Israel Electric Corporation. At present, the main disadvantage of the electric car is its short travel range and the long time required to charge it. The second part of Agassi's initiative is to replace used batteries with new batteries, already charged with electricity, in a manner similar to how one switches batteries in a remote control. However, the batteries for an electric car weigh about 200 kilograms and are flammable, meaning they have to be located in a protected part of the car, far away from the driver. Efforts to deal with Agassi's initiative have lead to a postponement in dealing with the challenge of changing batteries quickly. The first experiment with a charging infrastructure, scheduled for the start of 2009, will not include changing batteries. Furthermore, it is quite possible that future improvements in the batteries and an increase in the travel range of electric cars will make the whole issue of changing batteries superfluous. The third innovation is the method of payment, which Agassi intends to adopt from the world of cellular phones: The cost of the car will be relatively low, but its purchase will be tied to a "subscription" for energy supply. Ultimately, the payment model could work parallel to a common trend in the world of vehicles: leasing. In any case, for the electric car to become attractive, the prices have to be tempting enough to convince even those consumers who have become accustomed to the convenience of fast refueling with gasoline. And we haven't even mentioned the pollution rate of electric cars (producing electric energy is more efficient than production of energy in the car itself, which means that pollution will be lower in the overall calculation), or for that matter the considerable attention that has been devoted to this project, compared to the lack of consideration for public transportation, which is actually the best way to reduce air pollution. The electric car will speed on ahead, thanks to public enthusiasm and government support. Agassi will offer urban electric transportation, with charging points located close to home. What is still unknown is whether electric cars will succeed in replacing gasoline-fueled cars and will become a favored mode of transportation outside cities, too. This success depends on the technology of exchanging batteries and the car's economic feasibility. Agassi will also encounter competition on the part of other technologies, including sophisticated hybrid drives and instant charging. In any case, it is worth paying close attention to the battle over the successor to the gasoline engine, which is expected to kick off by 2011. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Iranian support Khamenei: Iran will never abandon Hamas, its holy warrior Ismail Haniyeh. Weight connection Israeli, Palestinian women come together to lose weight and stay healthy.   1.   Making some PR for fossil fuels? 13:08  |  Goy 30/09/08   2.   enough lies... 13:17  |  no name 30/09/08   3.   NEW SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH RAISES BATTERY CAPACITY BY TENFOLD 13:51  |  Ener-Tech Analyst 30/09/08   4.   PLUG-IN HYBRIDS (PHEV`s) ARE EXTREMELY FEASIBLE AS A SOLUTION 14:12  |  Ener-Tech Analyst 30/09/08   5.   EVs are the future 14:22  |  xebra 30/09/08   6.   I am in 100% agreement with #2 - it is a hoax! 15:07  |  S 30/09/08   7.   TO # 1 and # 6 15:58  |  Enginner 30/09/08   8.   @3 + 4 16:05  |  JW 30/09/08   9.   To no. 1; Expand puplic transport. 18:24  |  Colin 30/09/08   10.   battery disposal 18:35  |  me 30/09/08   11.   #7 Engineer - Hi! From another engineer... 19:06  |  S 30/09/08   12.   Do you want to nuke the ME and Russia, without firing a Shot? 19:30  |  GHook93 30/09/08   13.   The business plan is a scam and cannot work - here`s why 20:11  |  No name provided 30/09/08   14.   If you really want hope 22:21  |  Sidney 30/09/08   15.   This concept is superior to any other concept at the moment 22:23  |  Jew- and Bookburner 30/09/08   16.   Better Place fan why 22:50  |  tom 30/09/08   17.   Electric Car Pricing 23:16  |  Franklin Miller 30/09/08   18.   How many ready-to-use batteries ... 00:29  |  Axel 01/10/08   19.   #13: That`s already the base price for a car in Israel 00:42  |  5th generation 01/10/08   20.   ZENN Car 02:17  |  Ron 01/10/08   21.   It can work, #13 04:42  |  Reuven 01/10/08   22.   Not with 200kg of Batteries to Change. 05:58  |  Steve 01/10/08   23.   Charging - forget the hype 08:10  |  Sebastian 01/10/08   24.   Agassi didn invent the electric car 08:13  |  Sebastian 01/10/08

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