Electric car: "Better Place" wants to expand the bounds of recharge

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New idea to try to really blossom the phenomenon of electric cars by limiting the constraints on their use.

An investor and not least, Shai Agassi, announced Monday have raised $ 200 million to organize networks of terminals to recharge batteries for electric cars.

As a reminder, Shai Agassi is the founder of software group TopTier, which he sold to Germany's SAP in 2001.

The kiosks, created in partnership with local groups, would be installed on existing car parks in the United States, Europe and in emerging countries, and electricity would be sold on subscription. They would be supplemented by creating a network of stations to exchange discharged battery against battery charge, to troubleshoot drivers hurry.( Finance Information City )

To launch his project, called "Better Place", Mr. Agassi has lifted 200 million from partners including Israel Corporation, a holding Israeli transport provided 100 million. The "round table" also includes institutional investors and not least as Morgan Stanley and Vantage Point Venture Partners, and the drinks magnate Edgar Bronfman Sr. and the former boss of the World Bank, James D. Wolfensohn. In short, the beautiful world ...

The goal of Better Place is to "revolutionize the automobile industry" based on the world of IT and telecommunications. The aim of the company is to sell or lease electric vehicles through packages that include monthly fee to access a recharging station and replacement batteries.

The group says already be in discussions with various governments to establish pilot sites, with tests planned in early 2008. It also includes partnerships with carmakers and financial institutions to help to the acquisition of electric cars on the model of subsidies for telephone operators to buy Cell phones.

According to Mr Agassi, a fully electric car that can be recharged 1500 times, would cost the equivalent of 3 euros per 100 km, one third of the current cost of a gasoline car in Europe. There is not yet at the moment of batteries to travel hundreds of miles on a single charge, while being both safe and affordable. Or Better Place believes that its business model is viable thanks to lithium-ion batteries currently available, which is limited to a hundred kilometers, reports BusinessWeek. The lithium-ion technology is seen as the next generation of batteries by major manufacturers, but none has yet marketed a car with such batteries.

Start-up company like Tesla and a major car manufacturers like GM and Nissan focus instead on finding more efficient batteries.