VID: Shai Agassi's Bold Plan for Electric Cars

[originalnutta]

Found it on DIGG, and it's a very inspiring proposal.

18 mins long.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/shai_agassi_on_electric_cars.html

[sixer]

Nice Vid, tks.

[Emancipated]

I am dense so I didn't understand the joke about mermaid. He said when you want a fish you get a woman and when you want a woman, you get a fish.


This idea does sound very good but I don't know if anyone would let this come to fruition because of all the money invested in oil. It's like the light bulb that doesn't burn out.

[nornet]

www.wired.com ran an article on him last year. His vision appears however noble at first glance is somewhat self serving and his track record is doing things for profit not out of any sense to better society. I've read quite a bit about him and he certainly is a salesman.

[mjl_toronto]

I'm sure this was posted earlier but his company has a bit of steam pushing it along. Many government bodies are providing some funding to help build or plan Better Place's network of battery stations. Ontario will be partnering with them also Better Place Ontario Partnership (http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/01/15/better-place-goes-canadian-with-ontario-electric-car-partnership/).

they may face a battle against the oil companies but Better Place seems like they can be the quickest to market with their plan.

[mjl_toronto]

Reviving this thread after the big GM news.

Now that the US Government owns 60% of GM, I'm thinking the likelihood of Better Place actually being successful is much greater. Apparently Obama is very interested in the Better Place infrastructure and he's also keen on building 'green' cars. What better way than to marry the two together and have them work closely to build the car and the infrastructure? I know there are still several flaws with both companies but I can't help but think of the possibilities.

What do you think?
If only I could buy cheap stocks in Better Place.:D

[Cough]

Economics will not pan out like he implies because he has left all kinds of costs out. And neither energy costs nor battery costs have ever followed a Moores curve. And you can have a nice fish dinner and sex with a mermaid (maybe not in that order). And the industrial revolution preceeded the abolition of slavery (in some ways is considered to have extended slavery through demand for cotton).

While he is a compelling and charismatic speaker, I hope people analyze before jumping on the bandwagon