I’d love to be an entrepreneur one day. To take an idea and follow it to till merger or bankruptcy do us apart. Until then I can admire and analyse the work of Shai Agassi founder and CEO of Better Place. His idea-
-Use excess electricity generated during non-peak hours by solar panels or windmills to charge Lithium batteries that run electric cars.
-Provide electric cars to the public as a service rather than a product. Similar to mobile phone networks abroad that offer the iPhone for only $200 while charging for the talk-time and data transfer, the cars will too be provided at low prices. You pay for the usage in the terms of distance covered, battery replaced or recharged.
-Set up “battery stations” along the lines of petrol pumps which will replace your discharged battery ( the range is for a charged battery is 180 kms ) Set up charging points to charge batteries in parking lots.
-Have software for charging the customer and see that cars charging does not increase the load at peak times. Charging during peak times will cost more.
Israel has become to first to begin setting up such a network because of the obvious advantages. Its solar power plants can reduce wastage ( Large amount of electricity is difficult to store and hence,wasted ) Electric cars are only truly green when they are not using electricity produced from coal burning power-plants. Flagging car sales will get a boost ( Renault-Nissan have signed on) Most importantly, its a step towards energy security for Israel. It has realised that it cannot remain dependent on oil produced mainly by the Arab nations because (a) said Arab nations hate Jewish Israel (b) the spiralling cost of the oil barrel.
The inherent limitations of the system would mean only certain countries or cities can think of implementing it . Those cities that have invested in green electricity sources such as windmills or solar panels, where distances travelled are smaller and hence investment in battery stations won’t be prohibitive ( perfect match with Israel and Denmark ) Implementing a similar concept in India would be difficult because-
-Renewable Energy : India has an installed wind power capacity of 9,500 Million Watts ( MW) out of a total generation of 145,625 MW ( ie 6.5 % ) These are installed in hilly rural areas and bringing this power to the urban centres will be a costly affair. Also, is there such a thing as non-peak hours for electricity consumption in India? Shouldn’t electricity starved villages get first priority on this electricity if any.
-Law & Order : How many stolen cars in India are recovered? To avoid theft, you’d have to charge a hefty deposit. This would hinder large scale adoption by users.
-Huge distances : Meaning setting up more charging stations, charge points and also increased electricity transmission costs.
These latter two could be negated by introducing Better place on routes such as the 150 km Mumbai-Pune expressway (easier to control theft, only one charging station required ) or only in environmentally-sensitive areas such as hill-stations or sanctuaries, but that would totally ruin the the economies of scale that would convince car manufacturers to tie up.
The Government of India (GOI) has set 2012 as a target to achieve “electricity for all” requiring 200,000 MW. Say the GOI acheives this and decides to tie up with Better Place to set up the first electric car network in Mumbai. It cuts down tax rates on green cars to 0 % thus giving companies like Maini (manufacturing the electric Reva ) a boost and forcing Tata to introduce a Better Place Nano. It allows the use of its network to transfer the non-peak electricity directly to charging points installed in apartment parking spaces ( at a price of course ) Better Place chips in with the know-how, charging stations and software. Then it would boil down to the cost factor and the convenience of use between the green Better Place cars and the conventional. Thought I’d calculate what the pricing model would have to be in today’s world prices for people to adopt Better Place.
I’ll choose a single person representative of a segment, my brother-Yash. He travels a total of 40 kms from Malad to Bandra and back everyday. He needs the car because of his irregular work timings and he can’t stand the crowded public transport. His running costs would be :
Monthly cost of running a new petrol engined Maruti Alto = Rs.10,500
Monthly cost of running a new diesel engined Tata Indica = Rs. 8,500
Monthly cost of taking rickshaw = Rs. 6,000
( Couldn’t attach the calculations sheet )
For The “Yash” demographic of the population, the targetted cost of charging and using a Better Place car should be about Rs. 7500 per month ( or Rs. 1125 per recharge ) The number of people who would use an electric car out of care for the environment in India would be very low. Just like mobile phone companies in India which offer recharges from Rs.50 to Rs.5000, Better place would have to introduce different packages targetting different segments, maybe even introduce electric bikes which would give more mileage per recharge.
Using the Better Place model or not, energy security is going to be crucial for India to one day, become a superpower. We must invest not only in green energy, but better models of distribution that maximize efficiency of its usage. With a little far-sightedness from our leaders and help from progressive companies like Better Place, we might just make it there and in the process, create business opportunities for the young Shai Agassis of India.
Shalom. L’hitraot. Let me know what your’ll think ! ( in the comments please ) & Merry Christmas !!
19 Comments
December 22, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Agassi almost became the CEO of SAP last year. Could have redefined SAP’s future and ability to innovate in emerging technologies.
Anyways, been hearing some good stuff about Better Place as well, interesting space to watch. Nice post.
Not so sure about the calculations though, coz our road tax economics needs to be revamped a lot to support this model.
December 22, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Calculations are very basic. Wanted to get a general idea of the numbers we’re talking about so I can compare with Better Place Israel’s rates when operations begin.
December 22, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Good post! That is a way forward if India is to become a superpower.
In fact, we have excellent opportunity because of worsening economic condition of global economy. We can promote the innovation in fields like energy. This should be our priority. That way, we can turn the crisis into an opportunity.
I will go as far to say that we should prioritize this investment over the bail-out packages for the companies in crunch.
Or better still, make the companies, who opt for packages, to innovate.
We as individual can help in this as well. ‘walk to the shop near your home and not ride’, save electricity, save water.
December 22, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Dude, of the wind power capacity that you have stated, only 15% can be achieved in a year at any given point in time.
Solar energy seems to be a better option, yet research has not begun to make it a cheaper affair. At present, the amount of energy put into manufacturing solar cells is much more than the solar energy the cells will capture in their entire life cycle!
The way I see it, a large country like India needs to have two time zones (at least). That way, peak electric loads could be much easily distributed. Read this article by Dr. Pachauri: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Times-of-a-nation/31633/ where he gives an excellent synopsis of the benefits of having different time zones. This will do wonders for charging your cars.
Last but not the least, the more the technology involved in making a car and running it, the higher is the environmental impact. Why consider running a car on electricity? Even though it is theoretically the cleanest form of energy, we will be converting electrical energy into mechanical energy i.e. from high grade to low grade. Better to convert chemical energy to mechanical energy as we are doing right now. Oh, and you might want to read some essays by Michael Crichton while we are on the topic of environmentalism:
http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speeches.html
December 22, 2008 at 8:18 pm
@ Gman
I didn’t understand about the 15 % Do explain because my understanding of the topic is very rudimentary
Solar energy may well be the better option considering our climate, but I’ve given stats on wind energy because the installed capacity for solar energy is just 2.12 MW ( http://mnes.nic.in/ )
Nice suggestion about the different time zones.. first time I’ve heard of it
How is converting clean electrical energy into mechanical energy with zero emission worse than conventional in terms of environmental impact? Would a hybrid Honda civic have a worse environmental impact than a normal one? that doesn’t make sense, but do explain
As for Michael Crichton, I’ve read his views on climate change in his novel “state of fear” where he says the earth goes through a periodic warming and cooling process, independent of us humans. Whether or not humans are causing a climate change, I don’t see how continuing to poison our planet’s atmosphere, rivers and land can be anything but a bad thing.
Thanks for the informative comments. For those who don’t know, GMan moonlights as an Environmental Manager thingie at Asian Paint and knows what he’s talking about ( today )
December 23, 2008 at 10:23 am
Coming to your point of harnessing solar energy and converting the same to electric energy. have been working extensively with Vestas RRB , they are one of the globe’s largest non conventional energy producers.
the following comes out of my experience + the discussions ive had with some great guys working in non convntnl energy programmes ( mr stefannn nann to name a few ( mico bosch chief lead ) )
solar elec is BAD BAD for a developing country like ours
solar elec demands advanced storing systems ( batteries ) which are then consumables ( the electrodes )
v v v v high tech processes are used to manufacture them, also their recycling requires immense time and tech prowess
moreover one requires high level of maturity when it comes to disposing lead acetate waste, which i do not see happening in india…(how many times have yu thrown a wafer packet/ plastic rubbish on the road )
yure idea sure sounds good…. i fear not in india tho
December 23, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Mr. Entrepreneur.. saying is one thing and executing is other.. In India, its really difficult to bring a ground braking Technology before we can satisfy our Greedy Politicians.. the cliche’.. “Hyaat aaamchya satthi kay??????
Anyways.. if there’s any place in India where this can be implemented.. its in Gujurat.. i think Gujuray has the best and the most properly managed Electricity Distribution Services ..Also I think it has more exposure in harnessing non conventional sources…In a nut shell, what I mean to say is, there has to be a example created before people accept such changes..So need to start in a confined region.. where u can monitor ur technology and also let people have a Case study to help them implement it elsewhere…
Overall, I wished if TATA’s had launched the NANO with something Green about it.. It would have been a real ground breaker!!
December 23, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Traditional wind energy generation figures show that a wind mill is effective only for 15% of the year i.e. a measly 55 days out of 365. Cost of installation of wind mill and “transporting” electricity from high wind areas to grid cannot be done in an economically feasible way. The ills of solar energy I have already explained.
As regards your Hybrid Honda question, consider this:
When Honda runs on petrol, it is burning fossil fuel and releasing CO2. When it is running on fossil fuel + electricity, in its life cycle, it will have added more CO2 to the atmosphere than if it had been running on petrol only. Maximum efficiency of a power plant is 40%. Do the mathematics. I am sure that you passed the Stoichiometry course in Chemical engineering!
A lot of low grade energy has been spent in manufacturing high grade energy (Stoichiometry once again). Why convert it back into low grade energy? The use of electricity in transportation should be minimized. Whatever can be generated via dynamo / braking etc. only should be utilized.
Crichton was a strong advocate of logic in environmental approach i.e. an engineering approach towards the environment rather than one based on emotions/unverified claims. We do not have sufficient information to “decode” the environment. Hence, we should not attempt to do so. Agreed, it might be too late in the future when we may realize that we have forever altered the course of life on this planet. Hence, we need to be cautious. However, that does not warrant the alarmist projections made by individuals/organizations to their own benefit. DDT was unnecessarily banned because the pesticide manufacturers wanted to push their latest products. DDT was influential in ridding many developing countries of Malaria. How do you weigh human greed against human life?
To quote Yuri, YAWN!!!
This has been a longer discourse than originally planned. Must get back to moon lighting… oops I mean work!
December 23, 2008 at 2:48 pm
@ Sushant.. That said, starting anything in India is way more difficult and painful than it should be. But I remember when we were in Jnr College 5 yrs ago, we din’t have cell phones and we used to agree to meet at a certain tree if anyone was free
Anyways I didn’t take all the “special challenges” in starting anything in India ( especiallly with Govt’s “help” ) into account. The idea was to showcase the idea and the original thinking behind Better Place.
@ Prateek.. About the manufacturing process, you will surely have a much much better idea- wasting as much energy building solar plants as it will produce would indeed be a waste. But as for the disposal, I’m sure that if our nuclear reactors are capable of disposing off nuclear waste, we can have systems in place for lead acetate. California has 9 solar energy stations that generate 350 MW since 1992, so surely the technology involved can’t be so hi-tech, we can’t implement 15 yrs down the line. I agree there are many challenges in having such a set up in a developing country like ours, especially expertise and cost. But comparing the cost with the foreign exchange our country has spent importing oil and will continue to do so, surely its an investment in our future which will pay off.
hehe.. this post was supposed to be about the idea behind Better Place, but has turned into a debate on renewable energy
Nice ! Keep your opinions coming. Another note of introduction, Prateek works for Sanwik Asia that manufactures custom machine tools while Sushant is a budding entrepreneur who had his idea of starting a paintball park in Pune cruelly snatched from him 
December 23, 2008 at 2:52 pm
One interesting way to implement this in Pune is to replace all the 6 seaters and the buses with these cars. I also think that the main city area should be vehicle free. The distances these cars talk about are much more than anything you see in Pune. Maybe also replace the Cool Cabs that run between Mumbai-Pune with these cars.
I think its quite difficult to monitor individuals about usage, in a place like India. So rather than having private vehicles in this scheme, you implement it on public transport.
I also disagree with Gman when he talks about the Hybrid cars. Hybrids are better because they charge their batteries not using the fuel, but by using the brakes. The kinetic energy of the moving car is used to charge the battery. My point is, that it doesn’t add more CO2.
December 23, 2008 at 3:36 pm
@ Gman.. Are u saying that the ratio of energy consumed in construction ( zero for running ) of a windmill to the electricity generated is more than the same ratio for a a thermal power plant ( considering the energy fed in the form of coal/oil ) Surely not ! lemme see the stoichiometry numbers ! ( for those wondering what the pompous bitch means by stoichiometry, its simple energy/material balance or law of conservation of energy/material in chemical engineer speak )
About the Honda Civic, your missing the point. I’ve said in the post also that an electric car powered by electricity from a coal burning plant is not a “green” car. I’m talking bout electric cars charged by electricity from renewable energy sources. Also, as Mandar says, a portion of the energy comes from regenerative breaking. I’m GUESSING that a hybrid car using “dirty” electricity would still be more “green” than a conventional one over its life-cycle, but i don’t have figures. I’m guessing you’ll pop up with the link next
December 23, 2008 at 3:42 pm
surely tracking via GPS ! even my bootyful e71 has it. Also, surely we cant replace buses. Having an efficient public transport system ( electric or not ) would make having a Better Place redundant- the per capita energy consumption for 50 people in a bus is surely less than 50 people driving 50 cars. Now if we had electric buses powered by “green” electricity, that would be an ideal combo.
As for Gman, what he’s saying is CO2 from petrol burning in hybrid engine + CO2 from power plant to charge >> CO2 from conventional engine .. Any numbers?
December 24, 2008 at 11:06 am
Have just enough time to post a quick comment. Will revert with numbers later.
December 24, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Very enlightening all this!
Not equipped contribute to the spontaneous exchange of ideas as of now.. But this space is demanding me to be more well-read which is awesome.
I thought Mandar’s approach was the best..I mean immediate response, without dissecting it too much or taking into account ‘numbers’ like almost veterans Gman and Prateek.
@Rats- there isn’t a Paintball place in Blore!
Cheers to Yuri for creating so much stir!!
Psst..Im here for any mental/emotional/intellectual/financial(err..) support for Better Place
January 3, 2009 at 10:45 am
Sorry dude! Have been away for a while. Did I miss anything? I guess not!
Happy New Year and stuff to ye all.
I stand corrected in my posts above regarding the Hybrid vehicles. I had mistaken the word hybrid for electric. Hybrid means a combination of two or more technologies as opposed to electric. Mea culpa.
However, I still stand by my initial assertion that its a bad idea to have electric cars.
January 13, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Thou shalt update more frequently!!!
Seriously, we are all missing our quota of Bhanageisms!
[whatever that means!]
January 22, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Polly wanna new article!
February 10, 2009 at 2:22 pm
“In 1865, English economist William Stanley Jevons discovered an efficiency paradox: the more efficient you make machines, the more energy they use. Why? Because the more efficient they are, the better they are, the cheaper they are and more people buy them, and the more they’ll use them”
http://www.progressive.org/mag/mpdubro020309.html
Does a big economy need big power plants?
“Central thermal power plants stopped getting more efficient in the 1960’s, bigger in the 1970’s, cheaper in the 1980’s, and bought in the 1990’s….
In 2007, the U.S., Spain, and China each added more wind capacity than the world added nuclear capacity, and the U.S. added more wind capacity than it added coal-fired capacity during 2003 to 2007 inclusive.”
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/does-a-big-economy-need-big-power-plants-a-guest-post/
World’s First Hybrid Solar-Gas Turbine Power Station is Under Construction in Israel
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/worlds-first-hybrid-solar-gas-turbine-power-station-israel.php
February 18, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Interesting post. Dunno how I missed out on this one.
I’m bit confused with your calcs. But you said they were only rudimentary. Coz they looked more like my BE project cost estimates-we found a way of recovering our capital in 2 years !
Also you are forgetting the technology aspect-costwise….not to mention the service that needs to be provided for the e-cars’ maintenance.
All in all a ‘brave’ post….I’m thinking I’ll start a home-order beer business like this. I’ll too do it like a social service to other fat slobs like myself. I’ll charge for the bottles !