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Silicon Valley Emerging As The Detroit Of Electric Cars

By Mr Ethanol | November 12, 2007

Austin American-Statesman:
Silicon Valley already is the capital of the world’s high-tech industry. Is it also becoming the Detroit of the electric car industry?

The recent announcement by Shai Agassi, a former SAP executive based in Palo Alto, Calif., that he’s raised $200 million for a company that will try to revolutionize the electric car industry is the latest sign of this region’s growing role in one of the hottest sectors of the automotive industry.

That’s no surprise considering California’s mandate for cleaner cars, the local enthusiasm for plug-in hybrids, the Silicon Valley fascination with new technology and the number of Bay Area venture firms investing in this industry.

Agassi, who spent months studying his venture, makes an interesting observation about the valley and the Motor City.

“Detroit is a car manufacturing center. I think what we’re looking at is not something that can be done in a normal way…. It needs an Internet approach, a Google approach.”

And, he said, this region is well-suited to do that. “In the valley, we know how to do technology disruption. We know how to do business models, how to develop proof of concept and get it adopted around the world,” he said.

Others, even those enthusiastic about the potential of electric cars, are uncertain about how much success startups such as Agassi’s Better Place and Tesla Motors of San Carlos can have against the huge global auto industry. General Motors and Toyota, for instance, each made more than 9 million vehicles in 2006.

Read full article.