Yokohama

Shai Agassi's ambitious Better Place project has been rolling out plans for test-market EVs around the world for over a year now, and today the project took a huge leap forward with the demonstration of its first automated battery swapping station. The proof-of-concept facility was demonstrated in Yokohama, Japan. Using a modified Nissan Dualis (Qashqai) to demonstrate the battery swap, Better Place showed how electric car owners can quickly and easily fill up with a full charge - without ever leaving their cars. It takes about a minute in all, shuttling a new battery up into the vehicle and...