Kristy's Blog

Shah Agassi, one of the few who make the tech boom go, and was slated to become CEO of SAP, has his own plan for getting rid of every one of those gas-burning cars. His plan in a nutshell, have consumers buy the power to charge batteries directly from the power grid, and not own the batteries. Just have stations available with new batteries when the old ones run low – it would take the same amount of time to fill up your gas tank.

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi

Electric Avenues

AutoOS, the Better Place operating system, would transform the transportation grid. Here’s how.

1. A special key fob linked to the car indicates the status of the battery. If the logo is throbbing blue, the car is fully charged.
2. The driver unplugs and heads out. The software analyzes the first few minutes of driving and guesses the destination based on past history: “Work?” it asks. The driver speaks a response and the system determines how much energy is needed for the day.
3. During the commute, the location-aware system finds and displays three open parking spaces near the office that are equipped with Better Place charging spots.
4. An automatic arm extends to plug into the car. The spot then communicates with the control center, which anticipates the driver’s energy needs so as to allocate power economically. It might, say, limit consumption during expensive peak hours. The driver gets a text: “80 percent charged.”
5. An unexpected meeting comes up. The driver enters a new route, and AutOS determines there is insufficient charge to get there. The driver orders a battery swap.
6. AutOS finds the most convenient battery-exchange location and books a bay. The old battery gets lowered onto a hydraulic plate, and the car moves forward on a car-wash-style track. In five minutes, a fully charged battery is in place.