Luckily, I was bearish on oil until recently. I said to short oil when it was at $120 per barrel on 04/23/08. I was a little early to the party, but oil did drop below $33 a barrel in December of 2008. Oil plummeted $114 a barrel after reaching its record high last summer.

If there’s ever a reason why you should avoid investing in the electric-car revolution it’s a start-up called Better Place L.L.C.

Based in Silicon Valley, the company is negotiating with governments and car makers to set up networks of charging systems for electric-car batteries.

The New York Times ran a story today about how Hawaiian Electric Company endorsed the Better Place system of rechargeable stations and swappable batteries. Better Place already has garnered endorsements from Israel, Denmark, Australia, Renault-Nissan and a coalition of Northern California.

In essence, the endorsements constitute permission for Better Place to install its system.  Here’s how Better Place makes money for investors:

Drivers pay to access a network of charging spots and conveniently located battery exchange stations powered by renewable…