"Better Place announced it has secured an initial round of funding of AUD$25 million for its planned charging and services network for electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia."

"The AUD$25 million in funding represents the first part of Better Place’s five-year plan to raise AUD$1 billion for the deployment of an EV network powered by renewable energy in Australia. Macquarie Capital Group acted as advisors on the fund raising. This initial round of seed funding will finance a range of planning, engineering, demonstration and trial activities in the lead up to the first stage of deployment, which will commence in Canberra in 2011."


http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=2614

2.5%, still have a ways to go, Vulture Capitalists are a tough crowd though.

2.5%, still have a ways to go, Vulture Capitalists are a tough crowd though.




Oh, did this sound as though things are not going as planned or that things are going too slowly?

No! This is the third big market for Better Place and there needs to be initial money to get the planning, engineering, tests, etc. up and running.

It's the same as GM not needing $1 billion to get the Volt project started. In fact, it would be too expensive to hold that much secured debt because it would be impossible to spend it efficiently before all the engineering is done and manufacturing is ready to roll.

I think this concept is difficult for some people to understand but money that sits is bad, in the eyes of many investors (however, sometimes like in this bad market, many are happy to not be losing). If they give it up, they expect it to be working for them. Did your daddy give you $50,000 when you were 15 so that you could go to college when you were 19 or so? Not if he was smart. He would give you just enough to motivate you along and invest wisely so that when it actually came time to make that tuition payment, the money was available. OK, maybe a bit extra for rent and some beer money.

Thus, you should read this as a very successful launch of the next phase of Australia's Better Place project.

Of course, if you are against Better Place then you would read this as a complete failure. That's just the way it is. However, the project is moving forward at full speed ahead. Like it or not, the money is in the bank.

By the way, this is not a government funded project. This is privately funded. Imagine that. These investors actually expect a good return on their investment. Wow! In this day and age of trillion dollar government stimulus packages and massive research and development grants that nobody expects to be paid back we actually have a small business getting funding for a what investors feel is a good idea.

Maybe all is not lost.

I'd say from actually talking with some unnamed Nissan employees, that the Better Place deal is no longer a major focus for their EV plans, considering the Leaf they're launching in SF is not compatible with Better Place's swapping stations (Better Place is based in Palo Alto, CA).

I'd say from actually talking with some unnamed Nissan employees, that the Better Place deal is no longer a major focus for their EV plans, considering the Leaf they're launching in SF is not compatible with Better Place's swapping stations (Better Place is based in Palo Alto, CA).





Well, I talked to their grandmothers and they told me that they are idiots. How about real references please?

Also, Nissan will have a Better Place compatible product for the California project.

The Leaf is just a BEV with the same huge problem with range anxiety and no infrastructure in place to charge them quickly enough to make them a practical form of transportation. Just another EV1 or RAV 4 EV.

Sure, pure EV's may take some market but ONLY as a second car toy. They cannot be used as the primary form of transportation.

Until we have quick-charge batteries and infrastructure in place, pure EVs are but a dream. Yes, I know they will be here in the future but for now, we have only hybrids, plug-in hybrids and the swap concept to produce a practical and primary form of electrified transportation.

If Nissan does not know this (they do) then they are in trouble (they’re not). Perhaps your friends are just janitors or workers on the line and have absolutely no idea of the technical difficulties BEVs face.

Personally, I would not invest any money in Better Place. I do not think its business model is viable.
Maybe on some small isolated island with rich population, like Hawaii? :)

I do not think its business model is viable.


Can you tell us how you came to that conclusion? How is the business model not viable. Calculations?

It's a good thing the people with the money actually did some calculations and found the model to be viable. That's why Better Place is sitting on so much invested capital and already have secured funding for three countries.

rvd, I can't wait to see how your calculations dismiss these huge projects. Or, perhaps you are just pulling crap out of your pants? Just a guess.

Of course, without any details we can't debate your statement. Is that your plan?

Can you tell us how you came to that conclusion? How is the business model not viable. Calculations?

It's a good thing the people with the money actually did some calculations and found the model to be viable. That's why Better Place is sitting on so much invested capital and already have secured funding for three countries.

rvd, I can't wait to see how your calculations dismiss these huge projects. Or, perhaps you are just pulling crap out of your pants? Just a guess.

Of course, without any details we can't debate your statement. Is that your plan?
1. I can think what I want, right? It is my humble opinion and not a proof or conclusion.
2. "already have secured funding for three countries". I did not notice you "think". You stated it is secured. Could you prove it?

1. I can think what I want, right? It is my humble opinion and not a proof or conclusion.
2. "already have secured funding for three countries". I did not notice you "think". You stated it is secured. Could you prove it?


Yes I can:


1) Denmark:

"By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Better Place , the California-based electric vehicle battery charging infrastructure pioneer, said this morning that it has secured a 103-million euro ($133.8 million) equity and debt financing in conjunction with Denmark's DONG Energy to fund initial deployment of its previously announced Danish charging infrastructure."

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/01/better-place-secures-1338-million-infusion-for-danish-ev-charging-network.html

2) Australia:

Link above

3) Israel - already installing infrastructure:

Better Place launched in October 2007 with a $200 million first round of funding, led by Tel Aviv chemical, shipping and technology company Israel Corp. (see Electric car charging startup raises $200M), but Better Place has some well-heeled competition.

http://cleantech.com/news/3761/better-place-charge-australia



So rvt, maybe you should first check out Google before you ask a stupid question that is very easy to verify. It makes you look foolish. Next, you should probably stop using business specific phrases like "their business model is not viable" and go with something more your speed. I suggest, "That crap won't fly, I tell ya!" Otherwise, people just might want to know what analysis you used to figure out if their business model was viable or not.

Yes I can:
2) Australia:
Link above

How about you learn some math, Texan?

"The AUD$25 million in funding represents the first part of Better Place’s five-year plan to raise AUD$1 billion"

"already have secured funding for three countries"

C'mon, it is simpler than Dirac function. See, it is more like 1st grade:
1000m - 25m = 975m;
this is how much money is not YET secured for AU.

But if this is too hard to swallow try to eat what other people have already chewed on:

100 * 25/1000 = 2.5% of funds secured so far (see above, other guy already said that), 97.5% to go.

Yes I can:
3)Better Place launched in October 2007 with a $200 million first round of funding, led by Tel Aviv chemical, shipping and technology company Israel Corp.
here, I added proper bold style for you

Yes I can:
1) Denmark:has secured a 103-million euro ($133.8 million) equity and debt financing in conjunction with Denmark's DONG Energy to fund initial deployment of its previously announced Danish charging infrastructure."
what can I say, you need to do more reading & comprehension, I guess

Next, you should probably stop using business specific phrases like "their business model is not viable" and go with something more your speed. I suggest, "That crap won't fly, I tell ya!"
Guess I am not from Texas, so I'll not talk like that. So, tell me what else I shouldn't do?