A day in the life with a Better Place electric vehicle (EV)

[Eyalel5]

It seems It's all about the curvy car

and fuck with the actors

what a seally show

[seanmcg2525]

It's not very safe, is it? He keeps looking down at the little screen which is a bit too low from the windshield. It won't be so environmentally friendly when he mows down a cyclist.

[wullebulle123]

the car looks good, model/manufacturer?

[ProtocolsMaster]

only if the world was like this

[schlusselmensch]

If you have the water, hydroelectric is where it's at, apart from flooding traditional lands, wetlands, wildlife habitat, yadda yadda yadda. Solar isn't worth wasting words on. Yes, it'll charge a car, but I want my house to work 24/7. By the way, I imagine you live in warm climes? Send your electric shitbox here to the far north and see how it does.

[ottvillem21]

think green

[schlusselmensch]

Not even in my kids' lifetimes. And windmills!!! Don't get me started! What a boondoggle. And where's the electricity come from? Unless it's hydroelectric, don't talk to me about near zero emissions!

[Traviskolber]

@schlusselmensch Solar, nuclear, wind, hydrogen, and tidal.

Deal with it.

[schlusselmensch]

@Traviskolber OK, just so long as you deal with your delusions.

[Traviskolber]

@schlusselmensch Delusions? They've been proven to work extremely well. You not believing that is a delusion.

[schlusselmensch]

@Traviskolber C'mon, the ONLY reason windmills are standing in North America is because the taxpayer has ante'd up, and I mean ante'd up. And where might we store that wonderfully clean hideously expensive power, Mr. Tesla? Tidal? I assume you know of some location where the tides are completely constant? Nuke, it's pretty good but you SURE HAVE TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, don't you? Hydrogen certainly holds promise and is certainly possible. We'll go broke changing over but what the hell.

[Traviskolber]

@schlusselmensch Ever heard of the sea? Tides are pretty constant there, otherwise our entire climate would be fucked. As for wind power, America is hardly the ideal spot. But for windy climates, it is a great source of energy. Solar, although shit if placed in the wrong position and wrong area on the planet, can provide great energy if positioned correctly. And nuclear is great, too, for obvious reasons.

[schlusselmensch]

@Traviskolber I'm going to guess that you're young, easily fooled, and believe the hype. Wait a few decades.

[Traviskolber]

@schlusselmensch

No response? Thought so.

Later, troll.



[schlusselmensch]

@Traviskolber YT is just slow and I consider my responses.

[Vytasltu]

The man didn't plug out the wire when he left his work :/

[BaguetteBoy]

What car model is this?

[samoht1977]

@BaguetteBoy It's a CGI artwork - and a very good one, if you asked that question! Designing style resembles Peugeot though...

[EricTheOracle]

How would we use it to stay warm in Minnesota?

[samoht1977]

@EricTheOracle you can turno on pre-heating or pre-cooling while you are connected to the grid, then you have a resistor heating air in the cockpit. Air conditioning (cooling) consumes less power than heating.

[ikra]

Definitely the future of cars. Near-term i think the hybrids are perfect for our needs. The current battery production capacity of the world is not enough if all of us were to switch to EV's now. We need to slowly build the infrastructure, and of course, people to believe in it. Although if only hybrid and electric vehicle prices werent so high, I'd probably buy one now.

[DarthNefatious]

It's like an imaginary Tesla

[kakureru]

i personally would favor the Chevy volt, in this particular portion of this era change over, makes the most sense. (for people who dont know; prius is NOT like the volt)

[violafinishda]

The time has come for Free energy to be revealed ,But the Oil companies want these technologies unknown to the masses,Find the real deal, a free energy device at LT-MAGNET-MOTORdotCOM ,Start the revolution!

[mctfzipmail]

Hybrid cars are actually better than electric only. If we change all the cars to electricity only we will have to burn a lot more petroleum to make energy and there are losses to distribute that energy. Besides that the battery is bigger and more expensive and the autonomy is shorter. Prius is still the answer when you think in smart drive. Two wheels electric vehicles are a good bet to the close future.

[Traviskolber]

@mctfzipmail Renewable energy.

Deal wit hit.

[lilaznmage15]

I think our technology is too adolescent for electric cars. Our batteries don't nearly run long enough and recharging takes forever. It's a good thought to solve our pollution but it just seems too impractical. Hydrogen ideas are outstanding and perhaps the most realistic strategy out in our world. But for now, I'm happy to run my Mustang on gas.

[trustreason]

@lilaznmage15 Clearly you didn't pay attention to what Shai Agassi is doing. Your argument could have more easily been made a hundred years ago when we faced the daunting task of drilling for oil. paving the country and putting gas stations on every corner. We did it anyway. Why not this?

[Traviskolber]

@lilaznmage15 You don't recharge most of the time.

You can recharge during the work day, and during the night, but if you run out during a drive, you just switch batteries (which takes 1 minute and 15 seconds, and is automated).

[diakrite]

I truly believe if we can stop big oil from sabotaging electric driving, switching batteries will be the method for the forseeable future. it's like those blisteringly fast electric radio-controlled competition model cars. You drive 8min. get to the pits, switch LiPo's and on the track again. No-one is going to try to charge packs between heats.

Maybe nano-tube batteries will enable us to break that 230mls-barrier that the best EV manage.. But that's the future.

[fuckiraq12]

ill drive my chevy big block anyday

[jeffsandychelsea]

@fuckiraq12 Until you can't afford the gas, that is. But you could always use synthetic biofuel from algae.

[thehumble1]

@fuckiraq12 not any day 15 years from now when gas is $18/gal the future has to start today

[Traviskolber]

@fuckiraq12 Good for you. And then you'll have no oil when the prices rise, and no one sells oil anymore.

[fuckiraq12]

@Traviskolber its is good for me thank you

[PreGameler]

good movie the only thing I'm worried about is how much will cost the electric car

[soulchild3751]

@PreGameler The car itself will cost far less than to buy and to maintain than todays petrol engine cars. First, the entire petrol engine is being replaced by a replaceable battery that the customer doesn't own - it's owned by Better Place. So minus an engine of 6,000+ moving parts and a $10,000 battery, and the rest of the car is basically what is being financed to the driver. I.E. Buy a car for like $7,000, subscribe to Better Place or another company, and that's it!

[cyferfreak]

I love green energy!!! But the problem is that there are to many people on our planet :s its impossible to produce green power for them all :s so maybe a bit less people?

[Traviskolber]

@cyferfreak When third world countries reach our current standard of living, you'll see a slight decline in population, and then a stabilization.

[jjgreedyify]

well this is not earth cause it to perfect.

[iPodRobin]

This is amasing! BP will be the leading company and manufacturer for electric cars in just a few years! With the switching stations being built a.w.s i am very excited to see how this blooms! BP will change the world, maybe not today, but soon enough to make a difference!

[oldbloke135]

When I was a student I worked in a filling station. I reckon we had about two hundred customers a day and that's for liquid fuel cars that can do a couple of hundred miles between fill-ups. These batteries will take at least a day to charge, so the switch centre will probably need about 250 on charge! Not even thinking about the space that needs, at £2000 each that is half a million pounds worth of batteries in stock!!

[mattetjus]

most, if not all, work commuting can be covered by just over night charging though, and with quick charge stations at e.g. Kentucky Fried McBurgerKing, the need for swapping stations will not be as big as that of petrol/diesel filling station...

[bored1980]

@oldbloke135 And with 100 swapping stations that's £100,000,000 worth of batteries stocked. Better Place customers will end up paying for it. I'll stick with fast and/or home recharging.

[Zamboro]

@bored1980

Yes, customers pay off those batteries through the eMiles program. 8 cents for every mile driven. The plus side is that means the cars are sold without the added cost of the battery, making them cheaper in most cases than gasoline cars.

[jeffsandychelsea]

@oldbloke135 they will be fast charged at the station. (2-3 hrs) they said this at the demonstration in yokohama. they wont hold anywhere near a hundred of any type of battery, rather, about 20 or so, they said it was less but i think 20 is more realistic. and you wont need to swap it all the time, just on drives longer than the battery range. (~100 mi) not too many people do those very often. also, the station shouldnt be much bigger than a gas station car wash, judging from the demonstrations.

[formeandyou83]

U forget a little thing. Most of the people don't drive over 60 km a day. So they can load the battery on a charging station. This battery changing station will only be used for long distances. So u don't change the battery every day!

[wullebulle123]

@oldbloke135 remember you only have to switch if you drive more than 100 miles at once because mostly you load battery at home/work/leisure parking

[quikboy2]

So everyone in the future is going to u iPhones and Macs? :P

Otherwise than that, this future concept video isn't too bad if we'll still have a car-dependent future.

[indiasrainbow]

The cars are already on the road now, today, we are just waiting for the battery switch service stations. just a few years away. this is not some star trek future vision.

[Traviskolber]

@indiasrainbow Just a few years? They are already being set up in Israel, Denmark, and Australia. The official cars developed in cooperation with Better Place (by Renault), go on sale in 2012, after the infrastructure is complete.

[vangoquighji]

Nice idea, yet it lacks on details

[NiskoPL]

@vangoquighji check out their website, the details are all there and have been for 2+ years now :)

[vangoquighji]

i did, but price isn't available info

[NiskoPL]

he quotes 20k for the car with standard features (batteries are loaned, so separate from the car) and then there is a monthly charge for using it (which is about what you pay for gas). Because the electricity is cheaper than gas, they make money. The bigger "mileage" plan you get, the more they help you with paying for the cost of the car up front (so you can get them for less than that 20k)

[NiskoPL]

Think cell phones. You sign a 2 year contract and get a free phone, or a DROID for 200 bucks. Same idea here.

[vangoquighji]

20k in US$ is considerable, 10x:}

[Traviskolber]

@vangoquighji It'll be more affordable than a three year old oil car, is what they say.

[fackyoutoobe]

Saving the envirment shouldent have to cost lives wake up america!!!

[fackyoutoobe]

The accident they reported on the radio was probubly caused by some one playing with their screen too much while driving and had their puny EV smashed like a grape by a semi, ah the future will be great when we can all drive death traps.

[NiskoPL]

@fackyoutoobe If you cared to research BP at all, their first prototype car was a Nissan Rogue (thats not a tiny car) model.

Agree with you about the screen touching though. WTB voice control with a semi-transparent and minimalistic HUD.

[flyhebbe]

Or: Have the cars drive by themselves. The Darpa-competitions show they already can. Juts have to implement it on a big scale. Cars will be able to drive twice as fast, yet 100 times safer. Jams will be history when there are no gaps between the cars. Any crashes (by manual drivers) will immediately alert all vehicles behind it, making them avoid chain-collisions. Manual driving will become a hobby instead.

[bored1980]

@flyhebbe Agreed. We have the technology to do it, I just don't think people are ready mentally for it. Obviously you and I are but that's about it! :)

[punishedbydeth]

prius interior shots? That doesn't seem right.

[haleyzimmermanfan18]

Great Job Haley! Can't wait to see your next role!

[martinss]

The angle of the flap covering the charge station outlet slopes back towards the outlet - looks like a problem for cold/icy and wet climates. A hood might be necessary

[Adventurestud]

fake

[ChrisLuxembourg]

I think it's not a "fake", it's the future!

But it takes too long for me and I create my own EV "LOWRACER hybrid"

[Adventurestud]

Well ... the animation IS real animation.

ev lowracers sounds cool.

[dymproductions]

well done, it is animated just to show you how this car works

[Elexceed]

I am building a 70Mph DC Electric Bike as my test vehicle, then will be converting my ZZR-1400 over to AC EV before starting on my Lamborghini Kit Car EV .. Having build Kit Cars in the Past I am tired of ICE and now 100% Electric.. The Murcielago will be redesigned to delete vents and anything that will cause drag. She will use the same system as the ThoRR Electric Sports Car .. which you can find on YOUTUBE.

EV the ONLY way to GO!

[3089280288]

That's the beauty of kit cars. You can just about put what ever you want in them. You could probably save money and start you own car company without starting from scratch.

[DanceTapper301]

Haley Zimmerman!!

[Halobenzene]

Actually they're coming up with batteries that charge in mere seconds and still retain as much energy as a standard Li-ion. You could just drive up to an charge station and pump in electricity as quickly as you do gas currently.

That would pretty much make the battery switching station an obsolete mechanical behemoth.

[Zamboro]

You're forgetting long distance shipping. Trucking companies, Fed Ex, UPS and so on would still need a battery swap infrastructure.

[Halobenzene]

With quick charge batteries, you'd simply have charge stations like the current gas stations.

You drive up to the "pump", put in the  charger, and after 2 minutes you drive off with a fully charged set of batteries. I'm assuming the midwest and other non-urban areas would have electricity nonetheless.

[Niffiwan]

Looks like a neat concept.

One question I have: what's going to prevent someone from stealing that chord while you leave it charging the car unsupervised?

[madnashy]

maybe they should put a locking device on the plugs so they can't be removed without the owner unlocking it.

[dymproductions]

it is the same thing about saying a guy is going to walk up to your car a stick a knife up your wheel.

[Bucko44]

Looks idyllic. Now throw in some northern, winter weather, Rain, snow, slush, freezing temps. Let's freeze that little recharging cord. Let's do a battery change when it's minus 20. By the way, is this car going to operate after I've left it outside, in the cold, blustery parking lot at the airport, for four days? My old 6-cylinder, gas-powered Jeep certainly will, and does. Any solutions to this? Otherwise, real people will never want one. Just sayin'.

[ratryu]

Looks like your country will remain enslaved to oil for a while longer.

[Zamboro]

I've had an electric bicycle, an electric moped and I'm on the waiting list for a Nissan Leaf.

Lead acid batteries crap out quick in cold weather. Nickel Metal Hydrides do okay, but there's still a noticable dip in range. Lithium polymer and lithium iron phosphate suffer no ill effects from the cold whatsoever. Lithium Ion's somewhere in the middle, a generally reliable battery technology that doesn't suffer much from the cold and that holds its charge for a long time.

My $0.02

[Jenchens]

Just saw Shai Agassi on Colbert about this. Exciting stuff. Would be great if these cars can work in subzero temperature.

[RGBW38]

I can't believe Microsoft is developing AutOS (with Continental).

In that case, who developed the (demo) iPhone app in this video ;-)

I hope BetterPlace think of supporting alternate architectures for their software ...

Rup

[kostea13]

SOLAR POWER + ELECTRIC CARS = FREEDOM !

[masterod1]

@kostea13 NOT!.. they will taxs us to death on that too...

[rayyc0]

they should replace the EV in this video with a spaceship that flies that could be cool to

[momnmo55]

The guy literally is carrying the wire in his pocket for every sinlge opportunistic charge.

I am not being a pessimistic rather a realist.

On another note, GPS/touch is so outdated. Read the news man! Govt all over banning texting and use of cells. What happened to voice recognitiona nd interaction systems? Don't develop, partner and buy readily available of the shelf if you don't have interest in R&Ding in that area if not ure speciality/interest. More work needed Better Place.

[ratryu]

I am certain they are working on voice recognition software. They are partnered with Microsoft on the network protocols.

[momnmo55]

Not gonna be feasible the battery pack switching concept. Which world are they still in.??

Do some decent benchmarking and market analysis and research. Some companies by the time this car comes to life are replacing the lame batteries like this, be it Li-ions or Li-Pol or NiMH/NiCad of any types (i doubt it wil be anything else outside this category) by high power batts.

[Chuqau]

What exactly isn't feasible about it? Bearing in mind that they already have a live, working version of the battery exchange station demonstrated in this video?

[yIdeas]

wait seriously? wasnt that just cg?

[shumbi11]

The battery exchange system is a way of dealing with the primary constraint of EV's which is the battery. The model is more like mobile phone plans. You will buy the car but not the batteries which you will lease on a pay-per-mile basis. You therefore don't need to worry about a warranty on the battery. Better Place will begin in Israel next year then Denmark and Canberra will be first in Oz. By then the model will be tested and if successful other Autos beside Renault Nissan will be invited.

[LightningEVAustralia]

I hate to be a thorn in your side, but do you believe a battery exchange service as complicated as that, is ever going to be sustainable?

With every manufacturer coming up with their own idea of an EV, How do you ever hope to have a universal service?

I raise this question because I fear The Dumbass Australian Government might just waste money and Tarnish the possability for electric cars in Australia.

You are playing a dangerous game, please consider the consequences of your actions.

[guantanamos]

Not realistic for coming out over a wide area...

[WesRcDrifting]

to bad this wont happen

[dymproductions]

this has already happened.

[stri8ted]

Very well done video. Similarly to the idea.

[DavidShatto]

Most of this vision is great, but such extensive manual interaction with the GPS/touch computer while driving is very dangerous. It's like texting while driving, which already is a major safety concern.

I love Better Place, and would hate to see you get embroiled in a public relations disaster. Please rethink how you plan your driver interface technology.

[Chuqau]

I'm not really sure why they are promoting the GPS thing as part of the EV, they are really completely separate technologies (apart from looking up where switch stations, etc are)

[ratryu]

The GPS is to help people "on the go." Imagine that you had to plan every single route around switch stations, charge points, traffic, etc. If you need to get somewhere in a hurry, the GPS and car-computer does everything for you.

Better Place is trying to promote convenience.

[Trashcankicker]

Same with me! This is a promising near future.

[SorenTimble]

thank you, you are truly making the world a better place!

[tallinex]

Nice, can't wait