Better Place to Bring Battery Switch into China

Being, for now, the single company that offers a viable battery switch solutions for electric vehicles, Better Place is looking for new markets to expand its operations, in the hope that the future will bring an invasion of electric vehicles and with it, lots and lots of batteries to swap. And what better place to expand one's business than in the land of all-new possibilities, China?

The charging solutions provider announced on Thursday it had signed an agreement with China Southern Power Grid that would allow market penetration not only for swap stations, but also for the EVs. As a test of this new agreement, the first battery switch station will open, together with a joint education center in Guangzhou before the end of the year.

Better Place and China Southern Power Grid are on the verge of establishing a joint venture that will be in charge with running the operations in China. At the other end of the rope, local authorities will begin providing support for local car producers (only one beneficiary was named until now, Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group) for the production of electric vehicles with switchable batteries.

“China Southern Grid is an important partner in a huge market that is moving quickly toward the mass-market development of electric cars and is embracing battery switch as the primary means of range extension,” said Shai Agassi, Better Place CEO.

“Our collaboration with China Southern and the support of the Guangzhou government open the door to new opportunities for switchable-battery electric cars made by Chinese manufacturers for the domestic and export markets."