Entrepreneur Evan Thornley insists electric car network will be viable

Entrepreneur and former Victorian MP Evan Thornley says his company’s plans to build a network of sites that will allow electric cars drivers to charge their vehicles only needs less than 0.5% of Australian cars to use the infrastructure to break even.

Thornely is the chief executive of Better Place Australia, which is in the process of raising $1 billion to fund the network. He says the company is on track to set up electric automobile recharging infrastructure by late 2012, about the same time the first plug-in electric cars will be available.

While Thornley will not release details of the company’s proposed pricing scheme, he says electric cars will be cheaper than petrol-based cars and that Better Place only requires less than 0.5% of Australian cars to use the infrastructure in order to break even.

But he also says the company isn’t worried about building infrastructure for an industry that hasn’t entered the mainstream. Instead, he says Better Place will encourage the auto industry to develop electric car technology faster than they otherwise would have.

“I’m disappointed you can’t do it in six months, but if you want to end the world’s addiction to oil, then you have to have infrastructure in place. You wouldn’t sell a car that runs on petrol without offering refuelling stations.”

“Besides, every major car maker has announced volumes of electric car vehicles that will enter manufacturing soon. The transition is moving at a global pace now.”

Better Place infrastructure has already entered testing in Israel, where more charging stations are being added regularly. Thornley says this demonstrates how successful the system can be, and expects Australia to adopt the technology relatively quickly.

“This is really an ideal country to produce this infrastructure. It’s a big country, it has high climate change awareness and concern and we have a lot of large cities with people who drive several kilometres and have high petrol bills. But the genius of zero emissions driving is that it will eventually be cheaper than driving with petrol.”

Thornley argues the automotive industry must move to electric cars or face destruction.

“We’re seeing a massive transition in the car industry. The industry lost billions last year, and they will continue to lose that much, whereas the oil industry has continued to make money.”

“With electric cars, the fast movers will have the best opportunity to grow rapidly. The electric car opportunity will get them out of trouble and the fast ones will do incredibly well. The industry hasn’t been doing great as you have may have noticed, you have to be flying fast into a mountain to land a $62 million bankruptcy.”

Thornley sparked controversy when he left the Victorian Government in order to join Better Place, which has plans to roll out infrastructure in countries such as Denmark and Japan.

The company is currently in a deal with Macquarie Capital Group to help raise $1 billion for the project, and has already negotiated a deal with AGL Energy to produce the power needed for the stations with renewable energy sources.

“There will be two different types of charging. The most important ones are the plug in spots, essentially like glorified parking spots. They are just pillars with a plug, and are located at spots such as a cinema, or shopping centre parking lot, or in your home.”

“For those people driving across long distances, all you do is sign up for a subscription, and you can charge your battery at stations across the country in less than a minute.”

The company today announced that the roll-out of its infrastructure will begin in Canberra, with construction to begin in 2011 for a 2012 opening.

“Canberra is a great city to start deploying our vision of zero-emissions mobility. Canberra has a mobile population that demands a viable alternative to allow for both short commutes and longer trips,” said Better Place global chief executive Shai Agassi.

The company will build charging stations in homes, offices and car parks, and will construct “Battery Swap Stations” where electric car owners drive in and have their battery swapped in under a minute.