GM V. BETTER PLACE ON CAR-CHARGING

Face Off: GM and Better Place on Electric Car Services
October 16, 2009 (HybridCars/Matter Network via Reuters)

"The first mainstream cars that plug into the electric grid are not expected for another year-but the battle to provide charging and battery services to those early adopters is already heating up…General Motors and Better Place both believe they are best suited to helping plug-in cars owners maintain and charge their batteries…

"Jason Wolf, head of Better Place's California office, said the purchase of the electric car-what he called a "device"-will be separated from the necessary charging and maintenance of the batteries, much the way consumers buy a cell phone, but sign up for wireless service through a carrier…Better Place has signed a deal to provide those services for future Renault electric cars in Denmark and Israel…"

From Better Plsce via YouTube

[Jason Wolf, California head, Better Place:] "A battery is like eight years worth of gasoline. When you walk into the dealership, you buy your vehicle now, you don't buy eight years worth of gasoline. You need a business model that takes the ownership of the battery and provides it to you the same way Chevron provides your gasoline [and]…In looking at how industries cannibalize and change themselves, it doesn't usually happen from the incumbents."

"But will other carmakers warmly embrace Better Place's model? Not according to [GM advanced technology manager Byron Shaw, who]… disagreed with the cell phone analogy, saying that there's a big difference between a $100 cell phone, and a vehicle, which costs at least tens of thousands of dollars. He believes that the carmaker is best positioned to provide all the post-purchase services…[and] pointed to the company's OnStar crash notification system as a platform that could be used to help plug-in car owners monitor and maintain batteries…"

From ChevroletVehicles via YouTube

[Byron Shaw, advanced technology manager, GM:] "If there's money to be made on batteries, we're going to be one of the competitors trying to make money on it…There's going to be a lot of competitors in the space and we certainly intend to be one…[Shaw questioned the Better Place plan.] Do you want another bill from another service provider that has nothing to do with your vehicle? Buying the battery from General Motors with the vehicle and the financing agreement in one integrated package is the advantage an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) provides."

"…[Mike DiNucci, vice president of strategic accounts for Coulomb Technologies, which sells networked charging stations and Tom Gage, CEO of AC Propulsion, which has been making electric drive systems since the 1980s] stressed the need to build open charging systems that wouldn't necessarily require services from either the carmaker or a dedicated third-party service…"