Better Place, Chery to Collaborate on Electric Vehicle Technology

Better Place — the California EV firm that has been pushing to develop charging infrastructures and swappable battery packs — has typically partnered with Renault-Nissan, but recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese automaker Chery to expand its efforts into China.

“With only 2 percent of China’s population owning cars, and 80 percent of vehicle sales in 2009 to first-time car buyers, China has the opportunity to create and lead an entirely new category around clean transportation,” said Dan Cohen, vice president of strategic initiatives for Better Place. “With the scale of Chery’s design and manufacturing capability and an industrial policy that favors EV over ICE (internal combustion engine), we believe China represents an unprecedented opportunity for Better Place. Our collaboration with Chery is just the beginning for Better Place in China.”

The first part of the companies’ collaboration can be seen at the Beijing auto show right now. Chery’s exhibit features several elements of Better Place’s electric vehicle solution, including electric vehicle charging stations as well as a Chery Riich G5 Sedan with swappable-battery technology.

“Chery has been a pioneer in EV technology since 2001,” said Dr. Yuan Tao, vice president of Chery. “We’ve closely followed Better Place for nearly two years and believe that our collaboration offers both companies the potential to lead the EV market in China and beyond.”

Some analysts predict China will capture 35 percent of the global EV market by 2020, a sizable jump from its current 2.7-percent stake. Analysts predict that China could overtake Japan’s EV market share in 2016, and surpass the U.S. by 2019. China’s rapidly expanding automotive market and an industrial policy that favors electric vehicles could help Chinese consumers skip the internal combustion engine, and exclusively shop EVs.

Better Place hopes its memorandum of understanding with Chery will help spark such a movement. The two companies will concentrate on developing EV prototypes with swappable batteries, and aim to secure regional government contracts to build pilot projects.

Source: Better Place