Denmark stands at the forefront of clean energy development. Nearly 20% of the electricity generated in the country comes from wind power. A New York Times article from earlier this month discusses the state of electric cars in Denmark – host to the United Nations Climate Change Conference. With such a significant percentage of energy produced from wind, storing the energy becomes an important issue.

Currently, “the biggest Danish power company is working with a Silicon Valley start-up in a $100 million effort to wire the country with charging poles as well as service stations that can change out batteries in minutes. The government offers a minimum $40,000 tax break on each new electric car — and free parking in downtown Copenhagen.” With huge financial incentives, the Danish government is hoping that collaborating with Shai Aggasi’s company Better Place will yield the fleet of cars that can provide wind power storage – by charging batteries at night when the wind blows most consistently, but demand is lowest – and reduce the country’s dependence on imported, nonrenewable energy for transportation.

Perhaps the greatest challenge will be getting the infrastructure in place. The New York Times reports that “In January 2009, Mr. Agassi promised that Denmark would have 100,000 charging spots in place and several thousand cars on the road by 2010. But with that deadline approaching, no Better Place cars are on the road and only 55 charging spots are ready.” Without an extensive network of battery swapping stations, a fleet of electric cars remains impossible. In addition, “local supporters of Better Place worry that the switching stations, which could cost as much as $1 million each to build, are impractical, largely because the stations may need to stock a wide range of batteries to accommodate cars from different manufacturers.”

In fact, Better Place has had trouble finding a manufacturer. According to The New York Times, “So far, only one automaker, Renault Nissan, has agreed to make cars that work with Mr. Agassi’s switching stations. Getting more automakers on board is a looming obstacle for Mr. Agassi. Toyota, the market leader in hybrid cars, ‘sees no clear business advantage for us with Better Place,’ said Graham Smith, senior vice president for external affairs at Toyota Motors Europe.”

- Eric Wilson

[image source: Better Place]

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