The high profile electric car experiment Batter Place made a big deal this weekend of the ceremonial opening of its demonstration center in Israel.
Better Place opened a demonstration center in Israel in an old oil tank
“We come another step closer to realizing the vision of sustainable electric transportation,” said Moshe Kaplinsky, CEO of the company’s Israel division.
He was wrong. The important step for the company will come late next year when it kicks off commercial operations in the small Mediterranean nation, its first market.
The demonstration center tells the story of how Better Place works. The company is essentially a power broker, selling electricity to people who plug their cars into charging stations and swapping depleted car batteries for fresh ones at changing stations.
This weekend’s most critical news was that the company has signed up 92 corporate fleets in Israel – including Motorola and Computer Associates and struck what it said was its first deal with a gas station operator for charging stations.
The fleet owners promise to buy some vehicles from Better Place partner Renault – which will begin shipping 1,000 cars a month into Israel in the second half of 2011.
The gas station operator, Dor Alon, became the first to agreed to construct battery-switching stations at its facilities in the country. Better Place expects more deals with gas station operators.
The Israel test is perhaps the best chance for the California start-up, which last month raised $350 million in funds. Israel is tiny, making electric cars with their limited driving range more practical. Running out of juice is more difficult when distances are short. What’s more, big corporate fleets make up about half the cars on the roads. These big vehicle operators will make managing the cars easier.
All this makes Israel a must-do for the company. If the system doesn’t work smoothly there, it will have greater difficulties in Denmark, California and Japan, markets that are next in Better Place’s sights.
Israel is indeed a demonstration center and Better Place must perform.
ter Place expects more deals with gas station operators.
The Israel test is perhaps the best chance for the California start-up, which last month raised $350 million in funds. Israel is tiny, making electric cars with their limited driving range more practical. Running out of juice is more difficult when distances are short. What’s more, big corporate fleets make up about half the cars on the roads. These big vehicle operators will make managing the cars easier.
All this makes Israel a must-do for the company. If the system doesn’t work smoothly there, it will have greater difficulties in Denmark, California and Japan, markets that are next in Better Place’s sights.
Israel is indeed a demonstration center and Better Place must perfor
Прокат авто, аренда машины с водителем и без
Недорого прокат авто киев – автомобили всех марок и классов!
The core of your writing while appearing agreeable at first, did not settle well with me personally after some time. Someplace throughout the sentences you actually managed to make me a believer unfortunately just for a short while. I nevertheless have a problem with your leaps in logic and you might do well to help fill in all those gaps. If you can accomplish that, I could undoubtedly end up being impressed.