Automobile Industry

Entries in Better Place (2)

Wednesday
Jul132011

Driving Electric Vehicles Set To Become A More Widespread Practical Option In Netherlands

Lots of reasons exist for why more people still haven’t made the switch to electric vehicles, and most of them have to do with cost and convenience.

Photo courtesy of The Holland Sentinel .

Even for those willing to pay the higher cost for an electric vehicle, there has always been the issue of recharging infrastructure. Owners could recharge their vehicles at home, but then they could only go for short distances for fear of running out of power.

Over the last couple a years, a number of companies have been developing public infrastructures by creating networks of electric vehicle charging stations.

Some of the most notable have been Better Place partnering with government of Ontario, Canada in an effort to develop an electric car infrastructure in the province, and the company signing an agreement with Jerusalem to develop a charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the city.

In the United States, General Motors has partnered with a number of utilities to install over 500 Pacific Coast charging stations for public use.

Now also getting into the building game is a new electric vehicles infrastructure provider called The New Motion. It’s a fledgling company that’s only been around since 2009, but it’s already making its mark in the Netherlands.

Earlier this month, The New Motion opened its first “fast charging station” for electric vehicle at the Van der Valk Hotel Vianen (Netherlands). The station is the first of what is set to be a national network of 30 stations, with the target of having them all in place by the end of 2012.

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Jan252009

Better Place Partners With Ontario Government to Develop Electric Car Infrastructure in the Province

Image courtesy of Treehugger.com

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Better Place is partnering with the government of Ontario in an effort to develop an electric car infrastructure in the province.

The company, which was unavailable for comment, released a statement saying that Better Place plans to install a network of charge spots and battery exchange stations in Toronto and later across Canada, which it hopes will give drivers the same convenience as gasoline stations.

Better Place says that it plans to “install charge spots in parking spaces at home, at work, and at retail locations, which [will] enable the network to automatically top off the electric car.”

Click to read more ...