Greentech Media's Top Ten Startups

Project Better Place

Not content to compete with discrete parts of the global transportation infrastructure, Project Better Place’s CEO Shai Agassi has instead decided to replace the entire thing. Project Better Place aims to create an integrated electric vehicle transportation network providing vehicles, charging stations, batteries, and an innovative financing package – what Agassi refers to as “the virtual oil field”. Except that PBP’s version of the Detroit-Houston nexus is located in Israel – and Denmark, announced recently – and includes partners Renault-Nissan, the State of Israel and DONG Energy. Good thing Agassi learned a few tricks about integrated network architecture as Product and Technology Group president at SAP, a job he quit in April 2007.

Though some have criticized the potential for PBP to excessively drain Israel’s water supply, in many other respects the desert country is the ideal place to launch this program. Short driving distances between major cities, a high cost of imported fuel, and a dense solar energy supply (along with a fairly well established CSP sector for powering those recharging stations), all help in speeding the transition towards an electric vehicle infrastructure. Replace sun with wind and Denmark has virtually the same qualities.

Does this mean PBP isn’t scalable to places where it may be needed the most, like the U.S. and China? Right now, probably not. But by the time the Renault-Nissan EVs arrive in 2011, the energy and policy landscape may be more amenable to such a disruptive project. Ultimately, PBP offers a plan for concrete progress instead of a flashy prototype and, with $200 million raised from Morgan Stanley, VantagePoint Ventures, Israel Corp., and private investors like former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, some real credibility in delivering a game-changing product.