The mayors of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose approved Better Place’s $1 billion plan to build up an electric service network. Unlike Prop 1A, which authorized a $10 billion public investment from the state for a bullet train- and that was just the down payment- Better Place’s plan is supported by private investments and involves installing thousands of parking-meter-size plugs in homes, lots, garages, and shopping centers for an electric fill-up. San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom suggested public contributions would come in the form of tax incentives and rebates.

The Bay Area is a natural testing ground for an electric-vehicle network, as it remains ground zero for much of the world’s innovation. California is also home to half of all the Prius hybrids on US roads, so there’s already significant interest in sustainable solutions to transportation-related pollution.

As the San Francisco Chronicle notes,

“the social benefits could be substantial both for the consumer’s wallet and the environment. If there was “significant adoption” of electric cars, American consumers could save $175 billion in the next two decades, according to the Global Venture Lab at UC Berkeley. All the recharging should amount to only a “moderate” burden on the power system, the lab predicted. And the cars all come with a defining feature: no tailpipes to spew pollution.”

We continue to watch Better Place with interest. And, while the SF 49ers, SF Giants and Golden State Warriors (my teams,…my sad, sad teams) continue to disappoint, there are clearly still things to be excited about in the Bay Area.