I was captivated by Wired’s article on Shai Agassi, an entrepreneur from Israel who believes he can reboot the car industry in a fascinating way with a brilliant take on electric vehicles.  The article introduced me to the (apparently) growing concept of buying a car but leasing the batteries, which seems to make a lot of sense.

“…It was an unorthodox mashup of the automotive and mobile phone industries. Instead of gas stations on every corner, the ERGO would blanket a country with a network of “smart” charge spots. Drivers could plug in anywhere, anytime, and would subscribe to a specific plan—unlimited miles, a maximum number of miles each month, or pay as you go—all for less than the equivalent cost for gas. They’d buy their car from the operator, who would offer steep discounts, perhaps even give the cars away. The profit would come from selling electricity—the minutes.

There would be plugs in homes, offices, shopping malls. And when customers couldn’t wait to “fill up,” they’d go to battery exchange stations where they would pull into car-wash-like sheds, and in a few minutes, a hydraulic lift would swap the depleted battery with a fresh one. Drivers wouldn’t pay a penny extra: The ERGO would own the battery.”

This is a novel take on an old problem, how long it takes to recharge a battery.  It’s not going to work if you can’t get a reasonable range out of a 5 minute “fill up”.  I also love the idea of an operating system for your car that has some intelligence built into it, it makes tons of sense.  The potential of a location-aware vehicle alone is considerable, especially in traffic management.

It’s a fascinating read, I can’t wait to see if this is a success.  He really strongly believes he can change the world, and I have all of my fingers crossed that he does it.  Read it now.