Better Place Ctd

As I'd mentioned previously (see here), last Tuesday the Smith team had the opportunity to visit Better Place, Israel's innovative electric car company. We departed Haifa around 9am for the drive to their facility in Tel Aviv. Located not far from the freeway (and ocean), Better Place was already humming from the moment we arrived - as tour groups passed through and saw, heard, and drove the Better Place solution.

"Brad investigating Better Place's futuristic showroom"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

As we'd arrived early, we helped ourselves to coffee and tea, while we waited for the tour to start. A little after 11am, the tour began. First we had a brief overview of the Better Place facility from our guide. Next, we were directed into an amphitheater to hear the spiel from a virtual "Shai Agassi".  To say that this was a flawless presentation - delivered in a futuristic and otherworldly location - would be an understatement. At the end, the bottom of the stage rotated and the model car was displayed for us to see. Really impressive!

"Virtual Shai Agassi talks to us about the Better Place vision"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

If that wasn't enough, third we were then directed outside to a test track so that each of us could experience the feel of driving a truly 100% electric car - as well as see examples of the charging stations. Among our group, Asher Epstein was able to test drive the single Tesla Roadster on site, while the rest of us were driving Renault's. Though jealous of Asher, I was still lucky enough to be the first in my group to get behind the wheel! 

"Better Place's electric cars getting recharged"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

To be honest, it wasn't what totally what I expected - though I don't mean this in a bad way. When I turned the car on for the first time, there wasn't the "normal" experience one expects when a car motor fires up. Instead it was completely silent. Additionally, as I drove out onto the track and increased speed - the car had "perfect" acceleration - as it had no gear box and hence no gears to shift between. All in all it was a very nice drive.

"The team talks with Mike Granoff overlooking the test track"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

After completing our test drives, we then were directed into a meeting with Mike Granoff (a friend of Asher) and the Head of Oil Independence Policies at Better Place. Mike was gracious enough to offer his time to discuss the Better Place model and field all of our questions regarding the company, the technology, and the business model. After a lively discussion (and one last look at the Tesla Roadster) we wrapped up our visit with a demonstration of the proprietary battery changing system that forms the core of the Better Place model.

"A full demonstration of the Better Place battery exchange system"
Photo by Kristin Thompson