Better Place, the California company building electric vehicle charging infrastructures around the world, took a first step Friday in China by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chery Automobile Co., China’s largest independent auto producer and exporter.
Better Place and Chery will jointly develop switchable-battery EV
prototypes with the goal of securing regional Chinese government EV
pilot projects.
The Chery exhibit at Auto China 2010 will include elements of the Better Place EV solution, including EV charge spots and battery-switch technology displayed with a Riich G5 sedan.
“With the scale of Chery’s design and manufacturing capability and an industrial policy that favors EV over ICE (internal combustion engine), we believe China represents an unprecedented opportunity for Better Place. Our collaboration with Chery is just the beginning for Better Place in China,” said Dan Cohen, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Better Place.
China is now the world’s largest auto market. HSBC research predicts that China’s share of the global EV market will grow from 2.7% this year to 35% by 2020. During this time period, China will overtake Japan by 2016 and the U.S. by 2019 in dominating the global EV market.
Japan Taxi Trial
In a separate release, Better Place launched a demonstration project in Tokyo for a switchable-battery electric taxi in partnership with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and Nihon Kotsu.
Better Place and Nihon Kotsu, Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, will operate three switchable-battery electric taxis. The batteries for these cars are provided by A123 Systems (Nasdaq: AONE).
Better place said the 90-day project marks the next major milestone
leading up to a complete system test of all components of the company’s
electric vehicle infrastructure in Israel before year-end.
The complete Better Place solution integrates charge spots, in-car
software, operations centers, cars, and batteries, in addition to
switch stations, all managed as an intelligent network.
Better Place said the battery switch station deployed in Tokyo represents a significant advancement over the Yokohama switch system demonstrated a year ago. The Tokyo switch station features the integration of battery storage and charging with thermal management capabilities. The Tokyo switch station also features nearly continuous operation of switching batteries for the three vehicles while optimizing battery life and performance, which can be monitored in real time online.
The battery is a critical element of the EV and how it is managed and charged is crucial to its optimization. For heavy use vehicles such as electric taxis, the need for repeated rapid (5 minute fast) charging will degrade the lifespan and performance of the battery.
The industry is proposing various solutions to address extended range, but Better Place says battery switch is the only feasible option–from the perspective of cost, flexibility (with the ability to manage charge time to less than 5 minutes), and technology–that will work in the near-term while offering a convenient, effective charging solution.
In January, Better Place secured $350 million in series B financing, one of the largest funding rounds ever in the cleantech space.
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