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Better Place was one of the most ambitious clean tech startups of the late 2000s. It promised to make electric cars as convenient as gasoline cars by building networks of chargers and robotic stations that could swap a drained battery for a full one in minutes. The company was formally based in Palo Alto. Most of its operations ran from Israel. It raised and spent about $850 million in private capital before it filed for bankruptcy in May 2013.
There is nothing left to visit. The company still matters to Palo Alto history because it shows the other side of the electric car boom that made Tesla famous a few miles away.
The idea
Shai Agassi launched the company publicly on October 29, 2007, as Project Better Place. He said the idea came from a question Klaus Schwab asked at the 2005 World Economic Forum in Davos: how would you make the world a better place by 2020?
Agassi's answer was to treat electric cars more like mobile phones. Drivers would buy a car without a battery. Better Place would own the battery, sell the electricity and run the network, charging customers a subscription. On a short trip, drivers would plug in at home or at work. On a long trip, they would pull into a swap station where a robot removed the empty pack and installed a charged one.
The plan also leaned on software. Better Place built a smart grid platform meant to manage charging for very large numbers of cars at once and shift it away from peak hours. Agassi said the network's power should come from renewable sources such as solar and wind where possible.
Shai Agassi and the Palo Alto connection
Agassi came to Better Place from SAP, the German business software company, where he had been one of its top executives. SAP has long run a large research and development campus in Stanford Research Park, profiled on our SAP Labs page. That background helps explain why a company run largely from Israel chose a Palo Alto base.
Better Place's formal home was Palo Alto. MIT Technology Review reported in February 2013 that the company was based in Palo Alto and had developed its subscription model there. We could not confirm a street address for its Palo Alto office from a primary source, so we do not list one.
The company's center of gravity was in Israel. Agassi and the company's main investors lived there. The first network was built there too. Its visitor center was in Ramat HaSharon, north of Tel Aviv.
Building the networks
Better Place moved quickly to sign partners and announce countries.
- January 2008. A memorandum of understanding with Renault and Nissan to build an electric car network for Israel.
- 2008 and 2009. Network plans announced for Israel, Denmark and Hawaii.
- December 2008. The first working charging station opened at a Cinema City complex near Tel Aviv.
- September 2009. Renault showed the Fluence Z.E., the sedan that would become the only car sold on the network with a swappable battery.
- October 2010. A three-year demonstration program for battery swapping electric taxis in the Bay Area, with San Francisco, San Jose and other partners, planned around four swap stations between the two cities.
- Second quarter of 2012. First deliveries of the Fluence Z.E. to customers in Israel.
By January 2011 the company had raised about $700 million. About a third had gone to building swap stations. At its peak in mid September 2012 there were 21 battery swap stations open to the public in Israel. The swap itself took about five minutes at deployed stations.
Collapse in 2013
Sales never came close to the plan. Agassi had expected 100,000 electric cars on Israeli roads by 2010. In the end fewer than 1,000 Fluence Z.E. cars were deployed in Israel and about 400 in Denmark.
On October 2, 2012, Agassi stepped down as chief executive. Evan Thornley, who had led Better Place Australia, replaced him. Agassi left the board a week later. Within days the company asked investors for about $100 million in emergency funding. Israeli press reported layoffs of 150 to 200 of its 400 Israeli staff at the end of October 2012.
Thornley was soon replaced by Dan Cohen. On February 6, 2013, MIT Technology Review reported that Better Place was winding down its operations in Silicon Valley and Australia to focus on Israel and Denmark. That ended its Palo Alto chapter.
On May 26, 2013, Better Place filed for bankruptcy in Israel. Its Danish unit began bankruptcy proceedings the same day. After two failed attempts to sell the business as a whole, the court-appointed receivers decided in November 2013 to sell the assets in parts and liquidate the company.
Why it failed
Later accounts named several causes. Building chargers and swap stations cost far more than expected. The company ran pilots and set up offices in too many places at once. Only one car model ever worked with its swap system. Most important, far fewer people bought the cars than Agassi had forecast. Customers also faced uncertainty about who would own and service their batteries if the company failed, which is exactly what happened.
The Tesla contrast
Better Place and Tesla were both Palo Alto based electric car companies in the same years. They made opposite bets. Better Place treated the battery as a swappable part of a network the company owned. Tesla built cars with large fixed batteries and later its own fast chargers. Tesla moved its headquarters to Deer Creek Road in Palo Alto in 2010, the same period when Better Place was raising most of its money. Our Tesla in Palo Alto profile covers that story.
In Palo Alto, electric driving today depends on plug-in charging. Our guide to EV charging in Palo Alto covers public chargers run by the city and private networks.
Better Place timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| October 29, 2007 | Public launch as Project Better Place. |
| January 2008 | Agreement with Renault and Nissan for Israel. |
| December 2008 | First charging station opens in Israel. |
| October 2010 | Bay Area electric taxi swap program announced. |
| 2012 | First Fluence Z.E. deliveries in Israel. |
| October 2, 2012 | Shai Agassi steps down as CEO. |
| February 2013 | Silicon Valley and Australian operations wound down. |
| May 26, 2013 | Bankruptcy filed in Israel. |
| November 2013 | Receivers decide to sell assets in parts and liquidate. |
Better Place's place in Palo Alto history
Palo Alto's company history is usually told through its winners. Better Place is a reminder that the city also hosted big, well funded failures. Its rise and fall happened in under six years and left almost nothing behind in the city itself. For a fuller view of how local companies have risen and fallen, see our Silicon Valley history and our companies hub.
Good to know
- No Better Place office, station or marker exists in Palo Alto today.
- The company's Bay Area taxi swap program was planned for the San Francisco to San Jose corridor, not Palo Alto streets in particular.
- For getting around without a car of your own, see our guide to robotaxis, rideshare and taxis.
Frequently asked questions
What was Better Place?
Better Place was a venture-backed company that built charging networks and robotic battery swap stations for electric cars. Drivers would buy a car without its battery and pay Better Place for the battery and the energy as a service. It operated mainly in Israel and Denmark.
Was Better Place a Palo Alto company?
Yes, formally. Better Place was based in Palo Alto, California. MIT Technology Review reported in 2013 that its subscription model had been developed there. Most of its planning and operations were steered from Israel, where its founder and main investors lived.
Who founded Better Place?
Shai Agassi, a former senior executive at the software company SAP, founded it and launched it publicly on October 29, 2007. He served as chief executive until he resigned in October 2012.
Why did Better Place fail?
Reporting at the time pointed to the high cost of building charging and swap networks, efforts in too many countries at once and far fewer customers than forecast. Fewer than 1,000 of its Renault cars reached drivers in Israel and about 400 in Denmark after it spent about $850 million.
Is there anything to see of Better Place in Palo Alto today?
No. The company left no marker, building or station in Palo Alto. Its U.S. operations were wound down in early 2013. Public EV charging in the city today is run by the City of Palo Alto and private networks.