Published July 10, 2012
By Jeff Cobb
We more often hear of Better Place as offering EV battery switching stations for Renaults, but today for the Volt in Australia, Holden announced Better Place would be its "preferred partner for renewable energy and faster charging."
For those of you less familiar, the “ long range Holden Volt” is the Australian re-badged version of the Chevy Volt.
Holden says Better Place will enable effectively reduced emissions by making available a number of membership packages for Volt customers.
Central in this is a “Charging Spot” recharger unit and ability to purchase renewable energy or 100-percent government certified renewable energy certificates.
Ordinarily plugging into house current in Australia is said to require a bit less than six hours for a full recharge. With the Better Place unit this is decreased to under four hours.
While offered to consumers, Holden Energy and Environment Director, Richard Marshall noted the Better Place option is likely to be especially popular with fleets wanting to run their Volts predominantly on the initial battery charge.
For its part, Better Place said the partnership gives Volt motorists a complete recharging solution for their electric driving.
“The partnership between Better Place and Holden means Volt drivers can choose an all-inclusive service that delivers complete peace of mind and makes driving an electric car easy, convenient and reliable,” said Better Place Head of Strategy and Marketing, Ben Keneally. “We look after everything a Volt driver needs – including installing personal charging spots at home or work, delivering shorter charging times, and providing ongoing management, maintenance, and 24-hour customer care.”
Better Place will also install a Volt Charge Spot at the limited number of Volt dealers for demonstration purposes when the Volt is released in the fourth quarter of this year.
