Firms Chosen in Israel to Develop "Better Place" Chargers
Look, more signs that Project Better Place is taking root in Israel. Two companies have been chosen to implement the charging infrastructure designed by Better Place. Aran Research and Development Ltd. and Nekuda DM Ltd will develop and install the first of an intended 500,000 charging sites in Israel alone. Hundreds will be installed in 2009. According to the Israeli business website Globes, "Project Better Place's engineering and marketing teams have formulated the design, safety, engineering, and operational features of the recharging stations."
The Better Place charging site is intended to be much more than an electrical outlet. It is meant to create a new paradigm of automobile ownership. Nissan/Renault has committed to making the electric cars without which Shai Agassi's vision for Israel remains a mere scheme. But it would be very welcome If Agassi's plan finds a way to take the apparent burden of battery cost and warranty off the shoulders of car makers and lower the cost of electric car ownership. Of course, $100-plus per barrel oil and the economies of scale of the manufacture of components in electric cars could rapidly disappear the cost difference between internal combustion and plug-in cars.
[Source: Globes]
[Source: Globes]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sola 3:59PM (3/10/2008)
The speed is unbelievable at which this project is going.
If everything goes like this, we will have a fully working system by 2010.
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Reuven Amir 5:31AM (5/14/2008)
Shay Agassi keeps associating his project with independence from fossil fuel imports. Not true!
Electrical energy to charge the batteries is still coming from conventional power plants.
Energy from wind and sun is a completely separate issue, whether it is used for cars or toasters.
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