Replacing Oil

Chery Automotive China To Produce Electric Vehicles With Swappable Batteries For Better Place Project

Just exactly what a “memo of understanding,” means is beyond me, but the electric car network program Better Place has apparently signed one with China’s Chery Automotive. The agreement involves developing switchable-battery electric vehicle prototypes to be used in Better Place’s network of electric vehicle battery switching stations.

If you’re not already familiar, Better Place is a business model more than a specific product begun in Isreal by Shai Agassi. The basic concept is a network of battery swapping and charging stations that work with affordable electric vehicles. Instead of pulling into a petrol station and refilling your tank with gasoline, your car’s empty battery would be completely removed and replaced with an identical one with a full charge and you’re good to go another 100 miles.

In other Better Place projects Renault is building cars with quick battery swapping technology, however it seems China wishes to use their own manufacturer, Chery. No surprises there.

Now this isn’t necessarily an example of fossil fuels being replaced with cleaner energy. The electricity used to charge the batteries will most likely be coal fired. However the electricity from any source, like the enormous solar arrays that the Chinese government has contracted from First Solar.