Project Better Place working with Renault, to use fuel cells?
According to sources at Globes, the car "at the heart" of Project Better Place's battery exchange network, will be Renault's Megane equipped with fuel cells. Carasso Auto Importers Ltd. will provide technical support and services and Carasso may trial Renault's Kangoo (an electric van sold in Europe for several years) also equipped with fuel cells. According to the Globes article, Renault says the electric Megane is an "experimental project" and the electric cars Renault announced in an alliance with Nissan will also be apart of Project Better Place.
The Globes article says Renault's Vice President recently visited Israel in connection with Project Better Place and met President Shimon Peres, an advisor for Project Better Place. The Globes also says that the Israel Tax Authority is considering tax exemptions for the purchase and importation of electric cars. If any of this is true, Shai Agassi has again done in months what many electric car companies have not accomplished in years or at all. Also, the possibility that Project Better Place may use fuel cells is just amazing.
[Source: Globes]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian Cole 12:43PM (3/04/2008)
The "fuel cell" referenced could be similar to systems proposed, in Israel and elsewhere, to produce electricity using metal pellets. Instead of standard battery or fuel cell operation, metal pellets are used. Spent (oxidized) pellets would be recovered and sent to a reprocessing facility, and the car's "fuel cell" or "battery" would receive a fresh charge (supply) of pellets. Besides swapping out the spent "fuel" for fresh, the entire unit could be replaced rather quickly, if needed, at stations set up for that. It seems to be a good fit to what seems to be proposed:0
-brian
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GoodCheer 5:23PM (11/07/2007)
I'm a little confused. If you have a fuel cell, what do you need battery swapping for?
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Lascelles Linton 6:01PM (11/07/2007)
Goodcheer, ...maybe it will be hydrogen tank swapping :D
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Simon 6:26PM (11/07/2007)
I thought they were relying on batteries exclusively. This doesn't quite fit, they would have to provide some sort of refueling network for fuel cells.
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Sammy E 6:39PM (11/07/2007)
Im also very confused?! whats the REAL deal? fuel cell or Battery...
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GoodCheer 10:13PM (11/07/2007)
Maybe Shai Agassi is just fellating the media with all the hot buzz-technologies he can spout, but really has nothing but a big pile of cash, a good idea, and some college buddies in industry and politics (you'd think that would get you a long way).
PS. Man those big windmills are sexy, aren't they?
PPS. Why does Project Better Place make me so punchy? Maybe it's just that they introduced themselves to us by saying how much money they have.
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Chris M 5:23AM (11/08/2007)
I'd say Globes got some bad information. It makes no sense to combine battery swapping with fuel cells, both are proposed for long distance driving only. While a car could be designed to do most local driving on cheaper electricity and reserve the expensive H2 for long road trips, battery swapping would still be a cheaper and easier way to enable long range driving.
Of course, it could be that "Better Place" has decided to drop the swap and join the hydrogen hype for more government and oil company largesse.
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Simon 2:31AM (11/08/2007)
Hydrogen isn't the only type of fuel cell. Cheaper alternatives could possibly be ethanol or methanol.
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Arnold Schneider 2:44PM (11/08/2007)
...a fuel cell car is basically an electric car. So, I guess, that's what they are using: The already electric car-part without the fuel cell.
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Lascelles Linton 5:26AM (11/08/2007)
Maybe they are using fuel cell cars because the battery system in those cars will be easier to modify to the new exchange system? Traditional batteries are well integrated. Also, the idea "renting a fuel cell" really is the same as renting a battery because the cost is too high. So, it's possible they try fuel cells.
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Felix Kramer 9:11PM (11/08/2007)
A careful read of the original Globes story:
"the car at the heart of the project will be based on the Renault Megane, which will be equipped with high-performance electric engine based on advanced fuel cells."
That doesn't mean the cars used will be fuel cell cars, which I agree wouldn't make sense. Every automaker that's moving toward plug-in cars is saying that they're basing their projects on experienced gained from their fuel cell programs.
-- Felix Kramer, Founder, CalCars.org
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