Better Place to Extend Tokyo Switchable-Battery Trial for Additional Three Months

Better Place to Extend Tokyo Switchable-Battery Trial for Additional Three Months

By Scott Doggett August 26, 2010

Better Place today announced that it will extend its switchable-battery electric vehicle taxi pilot program in Tokyo to operate through the end of the year, just as Green Car Advisor said it might in a detailed report on the program earlier this month.

The trial ended four weeks ago. By extending the trial three months starting Sept. 1, Better Place says it will be able to further evaluate and improve the system, including the battery switch station, the EV taxis, battery performance and charging, as well as driver behavior and consumer acceptance.

The pilot project began on April 26, in cooperation with Nihon Kotsu Co., Tokyo's largest taxi operator, and focuses on the feasibility of battery switch as means for taxis to have quick zero-emissions range extension.

"Up to this point, there has been very little information about how an EV battery will perform in heavily used, real-world, taxi conditions," Kiyotaka Fujii, president of Better Place Japan, said in a statement. "This program has provided us with critical insights into the battery performance in a switch model and switch station performance for the toughest customers - taxi drivers."

Fujii said that by extending this program, Better Place hopes to gain further insights into the battery performance and durability of the switch station itself, "which will be invaluable as we move towards commercial launch later next year in Israel and Denmark."

While a comprehensive analysis of the data is still being conducted, some initial data points about the taxi project include that taxi drivers went through the switch station 2,122 times while racking up more than 25,000 miles and that the average switch time took 59.1 seconds.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.