A turning point came quietly over the last two decades as the popularity of consumer electronics, starting with radios and expanding to laptops, cell phones and other devices provoked the development of increasingly advanced batteries. Embedded medical devices forced the next generation batteries to become safe and long living. At the same time, the steady expansion of global development, especially in emerging markets like China and India, coupled with the near-monopoly of oil on global transport, have taken a toll on the abundance, and therefore the affordability, of oil.

Just one decade ago, oil cost around $10 per barrel, and the most advanced batteries had a life of around 200 cycles. Today oil costs over $100 per barrel, and batteries go 2,000 cycles. Consequently, with little fanfare, the cost of a mile on electric, including depreciation of the battery plus electricity is now below the cost of a mile on gasoline -- and these two cost curves continue their opposing trend in favor of the electrons.

So why then have we not seen the market tip toward the electric car? Because the acquisition cost of the car plus the battery is still too high for most consumers and the lack of wide spread infrastructure means the range of an electric car with a bolted battery inside is not enough to satisfy most drivers accustomed to refueling once a week, every 300 miles.

At Better Place, our answer to this challenge lies with the infrastructure, not the battery. By separating the ownership of the car and the battery and providing consumers with the network and infrastructure to conveniently charge the battery when parked -- or switch the battery in less time than it takes to refuel on longer drives -convenience is attained. Price the car without the battery at purchase, and the rest as you drive and the electric car enjoys the same buying model as a gasoline car - and the electric car proves cheaper today and progressively cheaper to own and operate with time. As an electric car is mostly a consumer electronic device, we know the trend line on its cost, much like we know where oil is headed. They are headed in opposite directions in favor of electrons.

Conventional wisdom holds that the electric car will only succeed if and when the "cheap magic battery" is invented. But just as drivers do not concern themselves with exploration, drilling, refining and shipping of crude oil, neither should they have to be concerned with purchasing a $10,000 battery, maintaining it, warranting it, and reselling it. What's needed is an operator, like Better Place, taking on those immediate and long-term burdens. We are building the network and infrastructure that gives electric car drivers the freedom of unlimited range and a more affordable car.

Many in the industry express concern around the cost of such an infrastructure project. For the cost of just one week's worth of gasoline in any country, enough infrastructure can be deployed to serve the first 10 percent of all drivers in that country who switch to the electric car -- and the profits from those consumers then finances the continued expansion of the network till full coverage is attained. One week of gasoline use!