better place

In December, 2012, we completed Europe's first nationwide electric car network. Our solution offers a real alternative and the same mobility for electric car owners, as petrol car drivers have become accustomed to in the past 100 years. Now, however, you can stay inside the car, take a break, check your e-mails or listen to your favorite music during the five minutes battery switch. Now, does that sound better than standing in the cold next to the petrol dispenser waiting for the fuel tank to fill? Since the opening of the first battery switch station in June 2012, we have switched batteries more than 10,000 times. The stations are unmanned and run 24/7. We also have 1,400 operational charge points of which nearly half are public. Last, but not least, we have a number of quick chargers available at select battery switch stations to our fixed battery members.

 

 

 

EU Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, visited the Battery Switch Station located in Gladsaxe with CEO Better Place, Johnny Hansen, Chief of Cabinet Henrik Hololei, European Commission, and Director Michael Svane, the Confederation of Danish Industry. Commissioner Kallas experienced both a drive in the world's first electric car with a switchable battery, a Renault Fluence ZE, and a battery switch in Europe's first battery switch station which is co-financed by the EU under TEN-T the program. The partnership is part of identifying, testing and showcasing green mobility solutions that are scalable across borders. The Commissioner also saw the unmanned fully automated station's robot work behind the scenes - and concluded the following on his Twitter account afterwards: "Just experienced change of battery sitting in Better Place's electric car in Copenhagen. Took 4 minutes. Good future potential”

AmCham Patron member Better Place Denmark hosted a Business After Hours event on the topic of innovation. Participants gathered at Better Place’s stylish test drive facility in Hellerup to hear remarks from the U.S. Ambassador Laurie S. Fulton and Better Place CEO, Johnny Hansen. Ambassador Fulton remembered meeting with company founder and visionary, Shai Agassi, when she first came to Denmark, and how she has followed the growth of the company ever since… Read more about the event here

We spent the entire day informing about air pollution, the electric cars environmental potential and of course offering bottled “clean air” and the “Emission is so last year”-stickers for bikes and bike helmets. The purpose was to get the Copenhagen citizens to think about the consequences of traffic in Copenhagen. 

Denmark’s DONG Energy and Better Place sign a letter of intent aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in the Danish car fleet. A second goal is also agreed on: Give Danish consumers access to affordable electric vehicles. Better Place Denmark is born.