Better Place swaps electric taxi batteries in Tokyo

April 26, 2010 5:06 AM PDT

by Martin LaMonica

Electric car services company Better Place on Monday said it will install a battery switching station for electric taxis in Tokyo, part of a test to demonstrate the viability of swapping batteries, rather than rapid charging.

Three crossover taxis have been converted to run on an electric powertrain using batteries from A123 Systems. The 90-day test will have an automated battery-swapping station developed by Better Place and demonstrated last year in Yokohama, Japan.

A battery changing station developed by Better Place.

(Credit: Better Place) Vehicles drive up an elevated ramp and a machine removes a depleted battery and then slides in a fresh one in under five minutes. Better Place argues this method is better than rapid charging, which causes more wear and tear on batteries. Longer charge times, in the range of 20 or 30 minutes, are impractical for taxis, it said.

The Tokyo trial, first announced last August, will feature three cars rather than four as originally planned and is happening a few months later than anticipated. Better Place is working with taxi operator Nihon Kotsu, which will make the cars available to the public from special taxi line.

In a statement, the president of Better Place Japan, Kiyotake Fujii, said that other cities have expressed interest in electric taxis because they reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. He said Tokyo has about 60,000 taxis, representing a large potential market for electric vehicles

In January, Better Place raised $350 million and said that it expects its first project of charging stations and battery-swapping facilities will start operating in Israel and Denmark by the end of 2011