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Shai Agassi has come up with the 21st century adaptation of that oh-so-20th-century line about GM: What’s good for China is good for the rest of the world.
Agassi, CEO of Better Place, told Wired’s first ever business conference Disruptive by Design Monday that China is on the verge of green-lighting electric cars in a big way. And when that happens it will have more influence over global automobile production than California’s school board has over textbooks.
“Once China does it, you don’t have a choice,” Agassi told the conference in a discussion with Wired senior writer Daniel Roth.
China’s BYD is working on EVs and a plug-in hybrid and has a deal with VW to develop batteries for Volkswagen. And Hafei Automotive is building the electric car California EV startup Coda Automotive promises to have on the road in California.
Agassi’s doesn’t sell cars though, he sells an infrastructure. A month ago nearly to the day he unveiled a battery swap system in Tokyo, a $500,000 gadget he said could can replace a dead battery and get you back on the road in less time than it takes to fill your gas tank, making it possible to travel long distances in an EV. The battery swap station was launched with help from the Japanese government, which is working to make EVs and plug-in hybrids a viable option.
“We’ve done the crazy thing of raising a ton of capital to put the network in place before the product exists,” Agassi told Disruptive by Design, saying wants to help countries kick the oil habit by moving a step ahead of the market.
Some have jumped on the preemptive bandwagon. “Better Place” is working with Danish government officials to create wind-powered battery changing stations. The company is also in the process of building a solar grid to power the electric cars that are predicted to flood the streets of Israel, and help meet the country’s weighty goal of freedom from oil by the year 2020.
Agassi says that developing this kind of ubiquitous network will get people into electric cars more effectively than focusing on specific pieces like cars or batteries. “Our goal is not to build a car company,” Agassi says. “Our goal is to end oil.” The car companies already exist, and “the next car 2.0 has to come from them.”
“Better Place” also provides countries with a framework to replace gas stations with battery charging stations that draw from sustainable energy sources. Clean energy will mean a clean conscience for consumers, which Agassi insists will drive the market.
“If you give consumers today the option to be a better person at a lower cost, they will take it.”
That, and China needs to bite.
They already have, according to Agassi, who says that China is pushing ahead as a leader in electric vehicles.
So if it’s in the bag, what’s keeping Agassi up at night? “Solving the right problem in the wrong timeframe.” He says that he is anxious (but not fearful) that he didn’t get the ball rolling fast enough. But as for the framework that Better Place can provide, “People are so ready for it.”
Full coverage of Wired’s Disruptive by Design Conference
See Also:
- Driven: Shai Agassi’s Audacious Plan to Put Electric Cars on the Road
- Shai Agassi Wants Free Electric Cars
- Deutsche Bank Loves Shai Agassi’s Plan to Bring Us EVs
- Shai Agassi Wants to Sell Electric Cars Like Cell Phones
- Better Place Unveils an Electric Car Battery Swap Station
Source: Shelly Dubois
