Better Place CEO Shai Agassi is not concerned by the plunge in oil prices. At the World Economic Forum in Davos today, the electric car entrepreneur told "Globes", "The price of oil fell, and it will go back up. Oil prices fell because of the slowdown, not because someone found more barrels of oil in Saudi Arabia."
Agassi added, "Even if we emerge from the crisis only in 2011, there will still be a lot of cars in the world, and their numbers will only grow."
"Globes": So this crisis doesn’t change your plans?
Agassi: "Obviously, plans change when there's an economic crisis like this. Nonetheless, there are also advantages in a project like ours in times like these. It's harder to obtain financing from private investors, but on the other hand, a lot of governments are now injecting a lot of money into government infrastructure projects.
"Various governments, including the Obama administration, are seeking infrastructure and energy projects that can be started as soon as possible in order to create jobs immediately. Governments are also seeking alternative energy projects, and a project like ours is a classic kind of project that governments are looking for. So there are advantages for us in times like these."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 29, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009