Electric Vehicle Battery-Swap Concept “Project Better Place” Running Into Trouble

I was never a fan of the electric vehicle battery-swap concept “Project Better Place” for countries like the United States, with a sprawling landmass of 3.5 million square miles — in the “Lower 48” alone. But I’m surprised (and saddened, really) to learn that this isn’t catching on in Israel, a country that is understandably trying hard to rid itself of gasoline, and with a landmass  that is conducive to the solution.  Apparently, only 490 subscriptions to the service have been sold thus far in Israel, which has put  Better Place on the ropes financially.

According to the article linked above, the issue is our old friend, the consumer value proposition.  When you do the math (a subject in which Israelis traditionally excel, btw) buying an EV sans battery and signing up for a plan providing you with a certain number of miles per year doesn’t save you any money over gasoline. Many Israelis are saying they don’t want to be the sucker, the “freier,” as they say in Hebrew.  

I sympathize with this sentiment.  A car is a huge investment, and no one wants to purchase something that just never went anywhere.  There is a significant Catch-22 at stake here with consumer perception, where he/she says to the auto industry: “Make EVs a success; make them inexpensive and I’ll buy one.”  The automaker says, “Buy them, and they’ll BE a success.  Then we’ll make more — and the price will come down.”   

I’m surprised that the government doesn’t use a subsidy to make this hugely attractive, as Israel has an even greater imperative to stop buying gas from people who don’t like them than we do here in the U.S.  And if they’re looking for a place from which to draw the funds for the subsidy, perhaps they could consider the military budget, which is the size of all outdoors.

I’m rooting for Better Place to succeed there, and in other small countries where the logistics make sense.