drbubb Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 The State of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Electric Company on Tuesday endorsed an effort to build an alternative transportation system based on electric vehicles with swappable batteries and an “intelligent” battery recharging network. The plan, the brainchild of the former Silicon Valley software executive Shai Agassi, is an effort to overcome the major hurdles to electric cars — slow battery recharging and limited availability. Mr. Agassi has argued that even if oil prices continued to decline, his electric recharging network — which ideally would use renewable energy sources like solar and wind — could provide competitively priced energy for a new class of vehicles. /more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/technolo...tml?_r=1&em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbubb Posted December 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 A SOURCE OF CASH FLOW - is so important in getting these ideas off the ground "Given the downturn in the mortgage market, he said that investors are looking for new classes of assets that will provide dependable revenue streams over many years. “I believe the new asset class is batteries,” he said. “When you have a driver in a car using a battery, nobody is going to cut their subscription and stop driving.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
id5 Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 A SOURCE OF CASH FLOW - is so important in getting these ideas off the ground "Given the downturn in the mortgage market, he said that investors are looking for new classes of assets that will provide dependable revenue streams over many years. “I believe the new asset class is batteries,” he said. “When you have a driver in a car using a battery, nobody is going to cut their subscription and stop driving.” It is a good idea providing they can get an agreement on a standard battery tray size, docking mechanism, etc. trays that would fit into a small two seater would have to be made to block together to fit in to larger cars. The bad idea for the consumer is the "nobody is going to cut their subscription" bit, it is the lock in that people will come to hate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbubb Posted December 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 The bad idea for the consumer is the "nobody is going to cut their subscription" bit, it is the lock in that people will come to hate. Not really much different than the need to buy petrol, is it? Except that: oil might go up faster than batteries or electricity cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
id5 Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 Not really much different than the need to buy petrol, is it? Except that: oil might go up faster than batteries or electricity cost Nuclear, incinerators, renewables to electricity to storage to consumer is the way forward, electric transport, all for it Dr. B With petrol you can just go and fill up. It's the drip, drip, drip of subscription that you can't get away from, you have to be a member of the club, your name is on the list, etc. The second stage for the company running the battery swaps is the financial lock in, payment in advance even if you don't want to. Companies in the UK love this type of arrangement, if you do not pay your telephone, water, electricity, etc by direct debit you are charged more. If the company gets it wrong then the onus is on you to prove that they have and then try and get your money back. IMHO it is a precursor to debt because sooner or later you will not be able to make that months payment and have to take the overdraft and if the next month is the same then a loan. You have no incentive to use the car less and reduce or not have to make a payment. When this scenario occurs then some of the people see that there is an opportunity to make a regular saving and turn away from debt and become savers but that makes less profit for the companies. Big retailers in the UK are trying to get people into a similar position with the offering of store cards, can’t afford the food this month, not a problem put it on your store card, can’t pay the store card bill, no problem here is a loan. Drip, drip, drip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbubb Posted December 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 With petrol you can just go and fill up. It's the drip, drip, drip of subscription that you can't get away from, you have to be a member of the club, your name is on the list, etc. The second stage for the company running the battery swaps is the financial lock in, payment in advance even if you don't want to. Companies in the UK love this type of arrangement... Good point. And that's another reason I like a carfree life. You escape from the ... drip, drip, drip. Pay as you go phones are another way out, but not practical for all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.