Agassi: cars could be given away for free
Shai Agassi, whose company Better Place is leading efforts in Israel, Denmark, and Australia to develop a network of plug-in battery swap stations for electric cars, suggested at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco this week that cars could eventually be given away for free, akin to the cell phone business model.
While we didn’t see the transcript of the talk, knowing Better Place’s business model, we’re guessing that Agassi is suggesting that in return for consumers paying for the electricity to power their cars, they could receive a highly subsidized, or even free car from the provider of that electricity.
This business model would be similar to that of cell phone companies, who often give consumers free phones, knowing that they will make their money back (and more) through the high access fees to access cellular networks.
It is unclear whether this is a model that Agassi is suggesting for Better Place. However, one thing is for certain– Agassi is dead-on about the importance of getting off of oil. He noted, “It’s not just the issue of how much we’re paying [for gas] today . . . We have 30 to 45 days of oil reserves — what do we do on day 46?”
Yet, whether Agassi’s suggestion that cars could be given away for free is a real proposal, or just a controversial statement intended to grab attention, is unclear. Either way, it is always good to push the discussion forward regarding the importance of finding an alternative to oil.
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