Denmark has become the second country to announce that it will mass-produce electric cars and rollout an extensive recharging network. Like Israel, which announced similar plans in January, Denmark will begin producing cars next year with full production from 2010. Both countries are planning to have a refuelling infrastructure in place by 2010.
Like Israel, Denmark will be offering generous tax incentive to purchasers of the electric cars. While the actual cost of the cars is expected to be about $60,000, tax breaks may make the effective price as low as $20,000.
In Denmark, the recharging infrastructure will consist of around 500,000 charging points where vehicles can be recharged overnight and 150 battery-swap stations which will function like petrol stations. The aim is to make the battery swapping process at least as convenient as buying petrol and a target of taking no more than 20 seconds has been set.
The Danes see this infrastructure as not only providing power for cars but also as a means of storing power generated from wind. About twenty percent of Denmark’s electricity is generated from wind but the amount being generated can vary substantially as weather conditions change. It has been calculated that if two million electric cars were in use, their batteries would have five times the storage capacity needed to provide the standby power for the least windy conditions. This is being built into the system from the start, with smart charging systems able to recharge batteries when power is plentiful and even provide power from the batteries to the grid when necessary.
Renault has announced that it will begin selling electric cars in 2011. Because of the infrastructure being developed there, Renault’s cars will initially go on sale in Denmark.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, has announced plans for a self-service electric car system called "autolib". Initially, there will be about 2,000 cars and 300 free recharging points. Subscribers will pay about $500 a month to use the cars, which they will be able to book as required. Already about 10% of Parisians participate in a subscription-based bicycle sharing scheme.
The Project Better Place Renault electric car to be sold in Israel.
