Better Place Pau Hana In Hawaii
Pau hana means quitting time. Better Place is leaving the island state. Officially, it’s to “focus on its core markets in Israel and Denmark,” as the Star Advertiser says. Unofficially, it’s a retreat.
Better Place operated 77 charge spots with 154 charge points on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island, serving some 700 customers. That’s around 10 customers per charge spots, not a rip roaring business.
Better Place sold the charge spots to OpConnect, a purveyor of charging solutions. First thing they’ll do is charge the stations to OpConnect technology.
Better Place is yet another great idea that falls on its face. Founder Shai Agassi believed the propaganda that there will be pure electric cars by the millions. His great idea: Swappable batteries. That means standard batteries. Agassi also should have asked the auto industry whether it wants to standardize on one battery.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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"Agassi also should have asked the auto industry whether it wants to standardize on one battery." This is how I've felt about Better Place's strategy. They were about a decade late, which is how long it would have taken to standardize. But the problem is this - battery operated products (including the ones I develop) are designed around the battery because it is so large. And mfrs all build vehicles with different styles and purposes, so Better Place's idea was doomed from the start.
Not that it matters much, but electricity in Hawaii is the most expensive per kwh in the United States. Lacking access to coal, natural gas or nukes, all electricity in Hawaii is generated by burning oil. So, whatever operating price advantage is claimed for electricity, it is diminished by the high cost of electricity to charge the battery. Of course, gasoline isn't cheap either, for the same reason (there are one or two local refineries, IIRC), so maybe it all evens out. It's also probably worth mentioning that, Hawaii being a series of islands, the opportunity to drive long distances doesn't exist, further diminishing the attractiveness of exotically-fueled cars. Most likely the cost of fuel is a smaller percentage of the total cost of owning a car in Hawaii than it would be for owning a car on the mainland.
Living in Honolulu, I see a good number of Nissan Leafs. I think this is simply a case where Better Place was outcompeted by the other offerings. I've also seen a Tesla Model S here, but just one.