Better Place, an electric vehicle (EV) services company, has announced that it is winding down its operations in North America and Australia. The company says it will now focus on its core markets in Denmark and Israel, where Better Place's infrastructure and operations are already in place.
According to an MIT Technology Review report, the company, whose business model includes EV charging and the swapping of drained EV batteries for new ones at service stations, has recently made several changes in an effort to help boost profits. Last year, for example, the company replaced founding CEO Shai Agassi, whose successor was also replaced shortly after.
Dan Cohen, Better Place's current CEO, said in a recent press release that the company will work on proving the viability of its business model.
“We have demonstrated that Better Place works as a concept. We need to prove to our customers, suppliers and investors that we have a sustainable, scalable model,” Cohen said. “To do so, we are now focusing on realizing the full potential of what we have built, and that means concentrating our resources and energy in the near term, on Denmark and Israel, where we have customers on the road enjoying our switching and charging networks.
“At the same time, we had to make some difficult decisions on actions to be taken elsewhere in the world," he continued. "We believe in the long-term potential of both Australia and North America and are enormously encouraged by the enthusiastic response we get from all our customers. Therefore, we will keep exploring solutions which will enable us to keep our long-term options with regard to those markets open.”
