Thoughts on the failure of Better Place

By Anonymous “Well, this car is automatic, systematic, hydromatic, Why, it could be greased lightning” —Greased Lightening, by Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs A spectacular bubble Some weeks ago, we examined the challenge of commercializing battery-powered electric cars. Several caselets explored three alternate business models for commercialization: the pay-as-you-go model, the subscription model, and the […]

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Why Tesla is best positioned to take EVs mainstream…

By Sana Why Tesla is best positioned to take EVs mainstream… In 2013, of the 1.23 million passenger cars and light trucks sold in the U.S., just 10,100 were electric vehicles (just under 1%). This may not seem very impressive, especially given that Tesla came out with its first EV, the Tesla Roadster in 2004, […]

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Let’s not invest in electric charging stations yet when we don’t even know what type of alternative fuel vehicles the US government will support in 2017.

By Rita In any nascent industries where government support is crucial, the first step is to understand what the industrial policies are and assess whether they would drive enough demand to support the industry in the long run. The three caselets we discussed on electric charging stations, though fictional, gave the impression that the market […]

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Business Model Innovation – A Requirement for Successful Technology Innovation in Energy? A Closer Look through the Lens of EV Charging

By Anonymous In class we have witnessed a number of examples of how high technology capex and low energy prices make it challenging for new technologies to commercialize in the energy space (EcoMotors, Transatomic, etc.). In the keynote of the Harvard Energy Symposium Dr. Francis O’Sullivan addressed this challenge for the energy storage market by […]

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EV charging networks: What is working and what has not

By Laura The hypothetical business cases for EV charging networks discussed in class were useful in helping us to consider the economic problems facing widespread EV adoption. Another way to determine critical success factors in this sector is to look at companies which have successfully, and unsuccessfully, attempted the challenge. Perhaps the most infamous example […]

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