First there must have been barrels of snake oil used to shake US$1bn out of investors on the dream of an explosion in electric vehicle uptake after so many false starts. Year after year concept ev’s would be rolled out to great fanfare, never to be seen again. You didn’t have to be watching the industry too closely to see a vicious circle with reluctant or half hearted big manufacturers drip feeding R&D, consumers waiting for the tech to improve, and governments the buyers of last resort.

Secondly it was essentially claiming prescience over the technology that would win out when electric vehicles inevitably take off. My interest was with guys like Elon Musk who were sweating to make the basic platform work. Now the Tesla Model S looks like the first serious consumer ev and Musk is rolling out solar powered recharging stations. There might be place for a Better Place one day, but its just too early to tell. Battery performance is still wanting and there is just too much innovation ahead.

I want an ev revolution, but a lot of well intentioned folks were sold a thought bubble. Naive celebrities are one thing, but the RAC and ACT governments should have known better and I would be asking questions about my member fees/tax dollars. No doubt the aura brought to the table by the usual global banks (who will elbow their way to the head of the creditor queue) was enough to sway less informed investors.