ERGO electric car national systems

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Lance Christie () ERGO electric car national systems

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This was just added to Chapter 9 of Plank 1 of the Renewable Deal:

The Electric Recharge Grid Operator (ERGO) electric car system: was created by Shai Agassi. He conceives of a system where the electric car owner owns the car but not the battery set. Battery service is rented on a per-mile basis like cell telephone minutes are leased. You can buy packages of so many miles per month with a per mile charge for overage, or just pay by mile used. The battery pack is designed to be replaced in minutes at battery pack replacement stations. The car owner can recharge the battery pack themselves through plug-in if they make daily commutes from a base such as home. If you go on a cross-country trip or any trip that exceeds the battery pack’s range, you pull into the battery-swapping stations when the existing pack is almost exhausted to replace the battery with a charged one.

Agassi’s insight is that ERGO is essentially a software company. The customer’s car needs to “know” how much charge it has, know where it is located, and know what distance it is to the nearest battery replacement station en route.

As of the summer of 2008 two countries, Israel and Denmark, have committed to replacing their vehicle fleets with an ERGO system, and ERGO has received $200 million in financing to build these national transportation grids. In Denmark, the ERGO system is being sponsored by DONG, Denmark’s largest utility; recharging ERGO battery packs solves DONG’s problem with storage of intermittent wind power. The Renault Mégane is the first “Better Place” prototype for the electric car which will receive the ERGO battery sets.
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Ron Georg () Re: ERGO electric car national systems

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Howdy--

This plan does seem to make more sense than many other recharging schemes. Wired magazine did an extensive story a couple of months ago:

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi?currentPage=all

The writer is certainly impressed with Shai Agassi. I was intrigued with how his scheme works so well in both militaristic Isreal and peaceful Denmark. In Isreal, it helps achieve their isolationist goals, freeing them from dependence on their energy-rich neighbors. In Denmark, the network of auto charing stations provides storage for all that wind power they're developing, furthering their goal of providing sustainable energy in a self-reliant manner.

It would seem this has the potential to make everyone happy.

Ron

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Craig Hibberd () Re: ERGO electric car national systems

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Great article!

Thanks,

- Craig

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Craig Hibberd

435.259.1610

On Oct 4, 2008, at 9:08 AM, Ron Georg wrote:

Howdy--

This plan does seem to make more sense than many other recharging schemes. Wired magazine did an extensive story a couple of months ago:

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi?currentPage=all

The writer is certainly impressed with Shai Agassi. I was intrigued with how his scheme works so well in both militaristic Isreal and peaceful Denmark. In Isreal, it helps achieve their isolationist goals, freeing them from dependence on their energy-rich neighbors. In Denmark, the network of auto charing stations provides storage for all that wind power they're developing, furthering their goal of providing sustainable energy in a self-reliant manner.

It would seem this has the potential to make everyone happy.

Ron