What's Better than Better Place?

The announcement of Project Better Place has stimulated some hopeful dialogue about the commercial viability of clean energy for cars, and has elevated the status and awareness of EVs in general. "Thank you!" 

But now, here's my rant; "Project Better Place" could become the greatest consumer funded monopoly since the advent of the petroleum age, even if it does put more electric cars in driveways than any other initiative in the near term. 

I also think it has the potential to disappoint the greatest number of willing and ready customers and investors if it stumbles or fails to launch. That's an acceptable risk. But it also marginalizes a rare opportunity for us to consider how to accept our individual roles in "reinventing the way we use energy at home and on the road." (a working title for my next book)

If Better Place is successful, we'll begin to reduce our use of fossil fuels on a meaningful scale but customers will once again surrender their energy autonomy to filling station conglomerates. If Better Place doesn't create a monopoly, the
electrification of the global fleet will require more from each of us as intelligent consumers and entrepreneurs? I can live with the latter, another energy monopoly, not so much!

So what's better than Project Better Place? The answer in my opinion is not an easier solution, but I think it will be more effective over time. I advocate for diverse forms of (V2G capable) EV's powered by distributed renewable energy, supporting a smarter grid with ubiquitous, standardized, free-standing public (V2G) charging kiosks. I'm opposed to technological tribalism and commercial monopolies.