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NEWS
Better Place Australia's CEO takes on global role
New appointment marks a priority shift from innovation to break-even operationEV charging infrastructure company Better Place has appointed the head of its Australian operation, Evan Thornley, to the position of global CEO. Mr Thornley replaces founding CEO Shai Agassi, who started the company in Israel and the US five years ago.
The appointment takes effect immediately, with local CFO Antony Cohen taking Mr Thornley’s seat until a permanent appointment is announced. Mr Thornley is in Israel at the moment nutting out details, including where he’ll work from. First up, he will spend about a month running a strategic review of the company.
While it’s too early to see in detail how the changeover will affect the company’s operation, it marks a shift for Better Place into its second evolutionary phase, spokeswoman Felicity Glennie-Holmes told motoring.com.au.
“Basically we’re seeing a founding CEO whose strength is innovation handing the reins to a successor who’s shown equal capability on the operational side.”
Mr Thornley, a former McKinsey consultant and IT entrepreneur, was a Victorian state Labor upper house member until being enticed into the Better Place job in 2009. More recently he also played a key role in founding EV Engineering, the Melbourne joint venture behind the much-publicised Holden Commodore EV first seen in public this year.
Better Place Chairman Idan Ofer said in a statement that Mr Thornley “has built an impressive track record” in his time with the Australian operation. "Evan brings the right combination of entrepreneurship and coalition and team building to take Better Place to the next level," he said.
Mr Agassi will remain on the board in a non-executive position. Mr Ofer said in the statement: “It is almost five years to the day since Shai launched Better Place and a natural point in the company's evolution to realign for its second chapter.”
Automotive News reports that Israeli financial media cite more brutal reasons, saying he was relieved of his position following losses of nearly US$500 million since it was founded. The first half of 2012 alone saw those losses increase nearly $50 million, expanding from $74 million to US$132 million year on year.
Although it also runs conventional charging stations, Better Place is a strong advocate of an automated battery-swap system using automated, unmanned swap stations through which drivers pass in the manner of an auto carwash. Renault has adopted the technology for some of its ZE (zero emission) vehicles, as has EV Engineering for its electric Commodore.
Better Place runs charge networks already in Israel, Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands, although these are limited in scope by the tiny EV fleets on roads worldwide.
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Written byJeremy Bass
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