Seeking Alpha looks at batteries and Better Place

Dr. Harold Goldmeier looks at the electric car battery business in a new article published at Seeking Alpha. The article focuses on Geely Automotive, an EV manufacturer headquartered in China. When it comes to batteries, he points out:

Geely faces the same downsides challenging other EV makers. There is a cultural disconnect for drivers who want high speed acceleration, faster “tank refueling,” and long distance travel on a charge than current charging systems allow. There are too few easily accessible charging stations in public areas offering safe well-lit cover to drivers. The charging infrastructure is in its nascent stage and costly to build.

Goldmeier then reminds readers about Better Place.

Now bankrupt Better Place, an Israel-based company with batteries in Renault cars, approached the problems from an alternative way of thinking. The home of every BP EV car buyer received a free charger, but for long distance driving strategically placed battery exchange centers robotically removed run down batteries from cars and installed charged batteries held in inventory in 15 minutes or less. For a full read about Better Place get hold of Totaled: The Billion-Dollar Crash of the Startup that Took on Big Auto, Big Oil and the World by Brian Blum. The book reads like a detective novel and discloses insights on a plethora of issues Geely and other face today about infrastructure development.

Read the whole article on Seeking Alpha.

Harold Goldmeier writes, speaks and give business seminars about management, marketing and investing in growth industries with good stock buys. He is a former research and Teaching fellow at Harvard and associate professor at Tufts Medical School. He currently teach business and politics in Tel Aviv.