Electric cars are not a new invention - they’ve been around almost as long as their traditional gasoline powered counterparts. However, electric vehicles have not hit mainstream popularity because of their relatively high costs and limited range of power. Well, one company is trying to change all that. This is not your grandfather’s new Ford truck.
Starting in Israel and Denmark, Project Better Place has teamed up with Renault in an attempt to take electric cars out of the fringe category and have them become a viable alternative to the gas powered vehicle. What makes Project Better Place believe they can do what no one else has been able to do before is they have $200 million in start-up capital.
They plan to add electrical outlets to tens of thousands of existing parking spaces in both countries. For those in a hurry and unable to wait for a battery to recharge, they will also offer drive-through stations where dying batteries can be swapped with fully charged batteries.
Taking a page out of the cell phone company’s playbook, the cars will be offered at a low initial charge. The company plans to make the majority of their money in monthly or annual plans, where drivers pay to have access to an on-board computer that will show where the nearest recharging station is. The batteries will remain property of Project Better Place.
The cars are expecting to mimic a modern European design, range form about 100-160 km (enough for most commuters), and perform comparably to a 1.6 L gas powered car. Perhaps best of all, as the cars are fully electric there will be no emissions and no noise generated by the vehicle. The company plans to have sold between ten and twenty thousand cars in Israel, with similar numbers in Denmark, by the year 2011.
As both consumers and countries attempt to reduce their dependence on oil and fossil fuels with the ever increasing price of oil, the time of the electric car may have finally arrived. Your next new Ford car might be running on lightning.
If you can’t wait for the electric version and you’re in the market for a new Ford vehicle, stop by Sunset Ford and take a look at the new inventory.
