I want to like Project Better Place because I like the idea of EV’s and oil in dependency. But ever since I started following it’s progress I had a bad feeling about it. For those who don’t know what I’m on about: project better place (PBP) is a scheme that envisages the mass introduction of EV’s in small countries like Israel and Denmark. EV buyers would pay monthly for battery rental and access to a power infrastructure, the “grid”. Check it out here:
http://www.projectbetterplace.com/
I can see a couple of things very wrong with it. The problem is that no matter how I sympathize with the idea of mass introduction of EV’s the truth is (and I hate to say this): it’s too early. There are a lot of technological breakthroughs going on right now, but it still takes some years before economical production of practical EV’s without major drawbacks is feasible. The problems remember are at this point limited range, long recharging times for batteries and high cost for next generation li-ion battery packs. PBP tries to work around this by adopting the mobile phone companies strategy by hiding the cost of EV’s behind a scheme of monthly payments, by installing an infinite number of recharging points and a cumbersome battery swop scheme.
First of all I detest the marketing strategy of mobile phone companies. They give you a high-tech full spec phone for “free”and subsequently make you pay big time for it by inflated phone bills. This is what PBP has in mind too: “free” batteries, maybe even a “free” car, just a little service contract which they will bill you for big time every month.
Secondly the whole network concept is very expensive and based on today’s technology. Tomorrow’s storage devices (EEStor?/next generation Li-Ion) will provide much faster recharging times and far longer range. All one would need then is a system of high current recharging stations, much like the present petrol stations that could fill up your batteries in minutes.
This brings us to the third problem: there is a huge chance that a multi billion investment in technology that is very likely to be obsolete before it is even fully installed will induce parties who have invested in this scheme to try to block out new technology that would render their investment essentially worthless. Plug in hybrids like the Chevy Volt are supposed to hit the market at about the same time PBP will become operational, and this concept makes the whole PBP grid concept useless already! Maybe that’s why rumour on the web has it that Renault/Nissan will pressure participating governments for exclusive right to sell EV’s . I guess investors would have to demand this because they can’t afford competition from next generation EV’s or plug-in hybrids that have no need for their grid. They would be out of business before you can say “abusive monopolist”. Nothing can be allowed to exist outside the grid. The grid lords need to rule supreme or wither and die.
So the fourth problem would be that consumers may have only a few models to choose from and a huge monopolist provider decides which models that will be and at what prices. Reminds me of that pride of the former DDR: the infamous Trabant. You bought one because it was the only model on offer and you needed a ride. I don’t want to be dependent on a monopolist grid lord for cars and battery rental at prices it determines.
Which brings me to the fifth problem: what incentive do the battery makers have to make their product cheaper if the costs are hidden from the consumer behind monthly payments for a “service contract”?
The sixth problem :what’s the use of achieving oil independence if you subsequently become the slave of an evil grid lord who is probably owned by petro dollar investment companies anyway? This scheme enables Big Capital to keep their fingers in your wallet, just like they are used to with current generation ICE cars.
Which brings us to the seventh problem: Renault/Nissan claims that driving their EV’s will be cheaper than current vehicles (in Israel that is where current vehicles and petrol face massive taxes, whereas PBP vehicles do not). What they don’t say is that next generation EV’s with affordable storage devices and no need for contribution to an expensive recharging grid will be even cheaper to run. A lot cheaper in fact.
Talk about cost: the eights problem is the kind of cost structure PBP proposes.The PBP scheme makes owning a car expensive but driving it cheap. But what about the need to make car costs variable? Most governments want you to pay per mile because of congestion problems. So eventually PBP drivers will end up paying an extra charge per mile apart from their monthly contribution to the PBP investors. This could make motoring very expensive indeed!
My final problem with PBP is: what happened to the promise of freedom and independence that seemed so alluring about EV’s? Freedom to me means to own my car including the batteries and be able to recharge them at home, preferably with electricity generated by myself with next generation photovoltaic technology and to be independent from big companies and governments looking to fill their pockets every month over my back.
Anyway when the right technology is available competitive EV’s will enter the market on their own power without any big brother/slave to the grid schemes and high current recharging stations will emerge very quickly too. In fact the right technology might already be available by the time PBP is supposed to become operational. If there has to be a large scale introduction of EV’s with today’s technology I would suggest to at least dispense with the expensive and cumbersome batteryswap scheme to keep overall investments down in technology that’s outdated soon anyway. Maybe it could be temporarily replaced with a scheme that would offer convenient ICE car rentals for those longer trips. And of course it should be guaranteed that next generation EV’s with better technology that can operate outside the grid will not be banned. Unless someone can prove me wrong here I have to assume this is one of the biggest an cheekiest scams Big Capital has ever tried to pull on the general public in modern history!