Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Truth About "Better Place"

More confirmation of what I've been saying about BP:

The contempt Better Place is demonstrating for the Israeli consumer will presumably greatly reduce the number of electric cars sold here, but it's not clear the company cares. Indeed, it's not inconceivable that the electric car is just a gimmick. The big money for Better Place lies in the monopoly it received from the state on building and operating charging stations.
This monopoly - which turns any car manufacturer that might ever bring an electric car to Israel, as well as its customers, into a captive audience - is worth pure gold.
BP-Bigger Profits

3 comments:

  1. Better place own the battery and lease it to the consumer. They can't let the customer charge the battery on their own since a fast charger would reduce the life of the battery. Thus better place have to install their own charging system for the battery. The haaretz article is pathetic pandering to the oil monopoly on transport. If haaretz doesn't like the deal better place is offering, then fine, keep your petrol car! Better place can charge what they like for their service. If someone else is willing to build infrastructure, dozens of swapping stations, hundreds of charging stations and buying thousands of batteries even before their first customer starts subscribing, then they can compete with BP. Until then, BP are the builders, and Haaretz are the whiners.

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  2. The real point is that Better Place does not reduce the costs of electric cars and actually raises costs. Swap stations are not necessary at all, and in other countries government and businesses are installing charge stations, without locking consumers into over priced payment plans. Some even allow free charging. People charging at home, cheaply, would not be fast charging and would not damage the batteries at all. Plus occasional fast charging will not cause noticeable damage to the batteries. BP has simply fooled Israel into believing their hype.

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  3. "The big money for Better Place lies in the monopoly it received from the state..."

    The basic argument is my whole concern. Government power will always be abused. In the eyes of some, it can be used for THEIR good. Only difference is who decides WHO will benefit? Israel feels the nation will, thus the individual must bear the cost of disruption as the nation implements the transition through higher gas vehicle taxes on purchases and lower taxes for EV's.

    Robinhood politics!

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