Better Place Partners With Ontario Government to Develop Electric Car Infrastructure in the Province

Image courtesy of Treehugger.com

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Better Place is partnering with the government of Ontario in an effort to develop an electric car infrastructure in the province.

The company, which was unavailable for comment, released a statement saying that Better Place plans to install a network of charge spots and battery exchange stations in Toronto and later across Canada, which it hopes will give drivers the same convenience as gasoline stations.

Better Place says that it plans to “install charge spots in parking spaces at home, at work, and at retail locations, which [will] enable the network to automatically top off the electric car.”

There is currently no indication as to when and how many stations are expected to be put in place, or the projected cost of the infrastructure to both the company and taxpayers.

The company also projects that, “for distances longer than what most people drive in a given day, drivers will pull into battery exchange stations to swap a depleted battery for a fresh one in less time than it takes to fill a car with gasoline.” Information was unavailable as to what is considered an average daily driving distances or how the battery exchange process would occur.

The company is largely in the research and development stage of things, stating that “Better Place will establish its Canadian head office in Ontario, and build an electric vehicle demonstration and education centre in Toronto to lay the groundwork to get electric vehicles running on Ontario roads.”

As part of the project, Better Place is partnering with Bullfrog Power, a Toronto-based electricity retailer, and the Macquarie Group, a Sydney, Australia-based global financial services provider. Bullfrog Power will provide all of the energy needed to power the Better Place network. Macquarie will act as financial advisor on developing a network rollout plan and investment timeline for Ontario.

In related news, Better Place has also announced that it plans to enter the U.S. market with California as it’s first state, beginning in the Bay Area. The company plans to implement an infrastructure investment model similar to what it implemented in Israel, Denmark, and Australia. Better Place intends to begin its network planning and permitting immediately, with infrastructure deployment beginning in 2010.

The company is targeting 2012 for the mass availability of electric cars in the Bay Area, with a network investment of $1 billon when the system is fully deployed.