[LINK] BetterPlace.com

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Pauline writes,

> Ta Stephen. This is fascinating. So it does seem quite probable that
> we will soon have a chain of Energy Stations (aka petrol stations) to
> power cars, with many other benefits as well. Eg, swap your car's
> batteries in 3 minutes (or we recharge it over a smart grid) and at
> the same time download a video into the car for the kids, and disable
> a stolen car from being recharged. They say the electricity would cost
> around one seventh of petrol, for the same distance, and all this with
> zero emissions in Australia (solar/wind power arrangements locked in).
>
>
> I'm not surprised that BetterPlace note, "We raised $200 million in a
> seed round, the largest seed round of any startup in history. We raised 
> a $135 million a week ago in Denmark to put the network in Denmark. So
> this is actually getting a lot of support, and a lot of funding." 
>
>
> In Australia, they note, "Better Place has partnered with AGL Energy,
> which has Australia’s largest portfolio of privately-owned renewable
> generation, and Macquarie, well known for making infrastructure
> investments around the globe. AGL will provide all of the renewable
> energy—from wind and other sources—needed to power the electric
> vehicles, and work with Better Place to optimize the network. Macquarie
> will provide financial advice to help raise AUD $1 billion for the
> initial network build."  Only problem, as yet it will be a Renault :)


Haha, yes Pauline. And apparently, powering Australia's cars this way
would add 7 percent to the existing load on our power grid, and, this
should mostly be done at night, when no one wants the power from wind.

It all seems a win-win all round. Very peppy, and almost silent, cars
with zero emissions & utilizing eco-friendly batteries with no exotic
materials, so we just buy power they contain, and then give them back.

And as you say it seems very likely to go ahead for us here in Aussie.

However, I am sure that Renaults won't be the only cars available :-)


>> Hi all,
>> 
>> Here is an **outstanding** movement regarding our world's environment.
>>
>> And as of today, Australia is right up there at the world's forefront. 
>> 
>> For example: http://tiny.cc/GwSoi  and  http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/
>> 
>> 
>> It's in regards to: 
>> 
>>  http://www.betterplace.com/
>> 
>>  http://www.betterplace.com/our-bold-plan/how-it-works/electric-car
>> 
>> 
>> Note: if your system prefers, http://tiny.cc/GwSoi is also known as:
>> 
>> http://www.cnet.com.au/cartech/cars/0,2000438541,339294851,00.htm?
>> feed=pt_better_place
>> 
>> And, at this site, you may be delighted at the 'goodness' of this idea.
>> 
>> Here's another www.greenlivingpedia.org/Australian_electric_car_network
>> 
>> Good luck, BetterPlace.com, and Evan Thornley, the planet needs you.


Cheers Pauline
Stephen Loosley
Victoria Australia