Electric Car Fueling Stations Planned for Hawaii. AP, October 7, 2008. "A California company is planning to build a network of charging stations on four Hawaii islands to fuel electric-powered cars. Electric vehicles are expected to be available in Hawaii's auto showrooms in 2011, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Better Place intends to power them by tapping into the state's growing renewable energy industry. Hawaii is an ideal market for electric vehicles because of its geographical containment and the relatively short distances traveled by most motorists, said Pete Cooper, in charge of global development for Better Place… The company is already developing an electric recharge grid for Israel, where it will install 500,000 charging stations and 150 battery-exchange depots. Officials in Denmark have agreed to a similar program… [In Hawaii] car owners would sign up with Better Place for a monthly plan providing recharge and battery exchange services for unlimited miles. Other options would allow subscribers to pay as they go. Then electric car drivers could charge up in parking garages, shopping malls and street curbs. Better Place says it would remove depleted batters and install a fresh battery in under three minutes. The company says its service removes a major drawback to electric cars: their heavy and costly batteries, which weigh about 500 pounds and cost $11,000. Better Place would own the batteries, substantially reducing the purchase price of the car, and the company's charging and exchange systems would relieve owners of the need to handle them."
2008-10-08
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Interesting....although with the small geographic distances the recharge at home part would seem to suffice. Reading into this you are saying the batteries deplete and are ruined for electrical cars and this is the problem they are solving?
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