Shai Agassi, former executive of a software company called SAP, is making his move in renovating the automobile industry. He has started a company called Project Better Place, in hopes of bringing electric cars to the top, by placing electric stations in urban areas for electric cars to “fill up”. And he has $200 million dollars from investors to do it with.

The New Approach - Agassi has a vision of creating a car company that is run much like cell phone companies are now. His company hopes to lease out or sell electric cars that come with monthly service fees. The company will also set up service stations that will replace batteries while on the road, so travelers will not have to wait for their batteries to recharge. They can just keep on driving. They also hope to have networks of stations that can charge batteries also.

The Progress - Investors and Agassi understand that progress towards this great idea for a business might be slow. But great ideas pay off to those that are patient. And with gas prices at more than $90 a barrel, they may not have to be patient for very long.

While many auto makers are trying to bring their cars up to standard to compete with these high gas prices and bring their consumers something significant, only a few are looking seriously into completely electric automobiles.

GM is going forward with a vehicle they have already named the Volt. They claim the car will be able to do a daily commute of 40 miles a day without using any gas at all. But they are still working out the kinks. Other automobile makers are also working on electric ideas. Some makers push their hybrid vehicles, while others are focused on all electric ones.

There are also new companies that are focused on only electric transportation. Pheonix Motors and Telsa Motors are two such companies.

The Future - Although there are some problems found with the batteries for these vehicles, no one has dropped the idea of electric cars someday becoming a normal reality for many. And with ideas like Agassi’s, the concept will hopefully travel faster into our world and illuminate the need for today’s fuel.