A private company that state officials hope will put Hawaii on the road to the widespread use of electric vehicles expects to begin installing infrastructure here in about six months.

Better Place Hawaii Inc. has access to $45 million in special purpose revenue bond money for the planning, design, building and development of transportation infrastructure, equipment and apparatus to support electric vehicles now that Gov. Linda Lingle has signed House Bill 1483 into law as Act 114.

The company is lining up financing, has signed a memorandum of agreement with Hawaiian Electric Co. to buy electricity and is moving ahead with its Hawaii plans.

"We hope to be pulling permits and installing infrastructure before the end of this year," said Pete Cooper, acting managing director for Better Place Hawaii.

Better Place's goal is to provide the batteries and recharging sites needed to make owning an electric car affordable and convenient.

The company's plan includes installing infrastructure for charging stations in homes, shopping malls, parking lots and at work. The operation depends on Better Place owning the batteries and selling miles to customers, just as cell phone companies sell minutes to callers, Cooper said.

"The state is encouraging them to move forward," said Ted Peck, state energy administrator. "We think, and we're not alone in thinking, their business model is intriguing."

The Hawaii company is a subsidiary of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Better Place LLC, which was formed in 2007 and has partnered with governments in Denmark, Japan, Australia, California and Canada on similar projects, according to its Web site.

Testimony in favor of the bill said the parent company was founded with $200 million. In 2008, Better Place Australia announced that the global investment bank Macquarie Capital Group agreed to raise $1 billion for a project there. In January, Better Place Denmark announced an investment of $130 million and an infrastructure agreement with the Danish power company.

The company has made the most progress in Israel, where it has installed 900 charging stations in public parking lots, ready to power cars that have not been built yet but are being developed by automobile companies, Cooper said.

STATE BOND FUNDING

The Hawaii subsidiary continues to raise money to pay for its initiative and is examining how best to go about using the bond money, he said.

Special purpose revenue bonds allow companies, schools and other organization that provide a public benefit to tap into low-interest loans. Cooper said there might be some tax exemption involved but the company is still not sure. Better Place has five years to access the bond, he said.

"We hope over that period of that time to get more clarity and hopefully be able to exercise it to everyone's benefit," Cooper said.

One of the sponsors for the $45 million bond bill, state Rep. Denny Coffman, D-6th (North Kona, Keauhou, Kailua, Kona, Honokohau), said Better Place is a viable company and that its mission supports the state's clean energy initiative that includes a move toward electric vehicles.

"There's really no obligation from the state with the special purpose revenue bond," Coffman said. "All we do is indicate this is a viable business and they can get better rates on the bond."

Coffman also touted the company's plan for battery exchange stations where drivers of electric vehicles can receive a fully charged battery in exchange for a spent one. Drivers would not have to wait for a recharge, making it especially convenient for the Big Island, where someone would not be able to travel from one side of the island and back on a single charge.

RENTING BATTERIES

Better Place gets around the high cost of electric vehicle batteries — $10,000 to $15,000 each — and disposal issues by owning the batteries and being responsible for disposing of them or recycling them, Coffman said.

Better Place is also committed to using renewable energy such as wind, solar or wave power to charge vehicles, Coffman said.

"They very much want to grow this concept as the state grows its renewable portfolio so that all of their battery charging occurs with renewable energy, not from diesel generators," he said.

State Rep. Hermina Morita, D-14th (Hanalei, Anahola, Kealia, Kapa'a, Waipouli), said Better Place integrates transportation, battery maintenance, electric charging and taxing. It can control when charging takes place so as not to overload the utility at peak usage times as well as serve as a way to collect highway taxes lost from electric vehicle owners who no longer buy gasoline, said Morita, chair of the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee.

"These kinds of issues have to be looked at from a system's approach, and this is one company that is talking about the totality of the system," Morita said, adding that passing the bill isn't necessarily an endorsement of the company, which must still meet certain requirements to obtain the bond money.

In December, Lingle said the partnership with Better Place is a significant step toward the state gaining independence from foreign oil by 2030.

"This public-private partnership is exactly the type of investment we have been working on as we continue to carry out our Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, moving toward the goal of 70 percent clean energy for the state of Hawaii," Lingle said.