Electric Car Infrastructure Coming To Australia - Better Place
March 20 2010 - 7:42PM
Dow Jones News
The head of electric car promoter Better Place Inc.'s Australian
operations, Evan Thornley, said Sunday that it expects to start
rolling out infrastructure to support electric cars in Australia
late next year. Thornley also predicted that 10-20% of Australia's
car fleet will be powered by electricity by 2020.
Australia is already a net importer of liquid fuels and
lawmakers have acknowledged widespread projections that future
demand will far outstrip supply, boosting the case for electric
cars.
California-based Better Place raised US$350 million in equity in
January that valued the company at US$1.5 billion. It intends to
start building its first charge network late next year in Israel,
followed by Denmark, then Australia.
The plan is to install recharging points in people's garages and
other popular parking spots like airports. A network of battery
swapping stations would cater for longer journeys.
But there's uncertainty about who will build the electric cars
that Better Place needs.
An alliance between Renault SA (RNO.FR) and Nissan Motor Co.
(NSANY, 7201.TO) in September agreed to supply Better Place with at
least 100,000 electric cars in Israel and Denmark, but Nissan also
wants to launch an electric vehicle compatible with its own
charging system.
Thornley said 51 different models of electric car are scheduled
to be in production by 2012 and expressed confidence that some of
those will be available in Australia. "Most of the things you can
buy anywhere in the world you can buy in Australia," he told the
Australian Broadcasting Corp.
As to their cost, Thornley said electric cars will be as cheap,
or cheaper to buy and operate than traditional gasoline-fueled
vehicles. The batteries are expensive, but Better Place intends to
bill customers in monthly instalments for the distances they drive,
similar to a mobile phone payment plan.
The first charge networks will be rolled out in the Australian
Capital Territory, with a national rollout to follow in 2012,
Thornley said.
Late in 2008, Better Place Australia said Macquarie Group Ltd.
(MQG.AU) will attempt raise A$1 billion to help it build the
network, and that AGL Energy Ltd. (AGK.AU) had agreed to power it
with renewable energy.
In November it secured A$25 million of funding from Lend Lease
Group (LLC.AU) and AGL, with Macquarie advising on the raising.
Some in Australia argue that electric cars should be powered by
renewable energy sources such as wind power to augment any
environmental benefits.
Australian Energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has
ruled out the government introducing legislation that would force
electric cars to be powered by renewables, citing reliability
issues.
-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4692;
Ross.Kelly@dowjones.com
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