ELECTRIC CARS (2)

In my earlier post, I said that I thought that electric cars would remain a minority taste for some time to come, not least because of the accumulated infrastructure spent by the fossil fuel industry over the past 150 years. A company called Better Place is doing its best to change that, and has already invested some Dkr.200m in 18 battery changing stations in Denmark. But progress is slow.

So it must have come as quite a shock to the financial backers of Better Place that Renault last week decided that replaceable batteries will not be the way forward for electric cars; they will instead concentrate on fixed batteries that can be recharged at home. This is a real blow to the idea of the replaceable battery, since Renault is the European car manufacturer that has been leading the way in respect of electric cars, and is the only one that has a model where the battery can be replaced. Yet even strong faith in a technology can wilt in the face of poor sales figures. Only 250 of the Fluence model have been sold in Denmark, and only around 2,000 worldwide. That compares badly with sales of other electric models in the Renault stable such as the Nissan Leaf (50,000 worldwide) and Renault Kangoo (9,000).

Better Place is putting a brave face on this unwelcome development, but it must be really disheartening. Infrastructure pundits often say "build it and they will come"; it doesn't seem likely that they will in this case.

We have a family reunion on Thursday. I will be asking my sister-in-law's boyfriend if he has heard the (bad) news. It's no fun being a pioneer.

Walter Blotscher