After more than four years in the making, media reports and hype, visits to the Better Place Education and Test Drive Center and final delivery prices, Better Place Renault Fluence ZE electric cars are finally on their way to purchasers in Israel. In a high profile ceremony on Sunday, January 22, which we were invited to but could not make because of the rain, Better Place launched its first 100 cars sent off to customers from the Better Place Israel headquarters near Tel Aviv. The cars, all Renault Fluences that had been specially built for running exclusively on electricity were sent off in a ceremony that included Shai Agassi, Better Place USA CEO, Idan Ofer Chairman of the Board, and Moshe Kaplansky, CEO for Better Place Israel.

Left to right:BP Board Chairman Idan Ofer, Israel CEO Moshe Kaplansky, and Better Place founder and CEO Shai Agassi. On right, Better Place cars ready to roll.

Besides private owners, the cars were also delivered to at least two rental car companies where the cars will be available for either tourists or local people wishing to try them out in normal road conditions. One of these companies the Eldan Group signed an agreement with Better Place in December to make the cars available for either rentals or on a long term lease basis.

The entire project was merely a dream in 2005 when Shai Agassi expressed his vision that one day electric cars would be seen on the roads of both Israel and the world at large. As contrasted with other electric car companies, including General Motors with their Volt electric-hybrid model, Better Place is not only offering a total electric car but also an infrastructure to run them.

This infrastructure, which is already in place in both Denmark and Holland, consists not only of special “charging posts” to recharge the car’s lithium ion batteries, but special battery pack exchange stations that enable the car’s battery pack to be exchanged for a freshly charged one in only about 3 minutes.

One of the big concerns involving electric cars is their rather short driving range of only around 140 km between charges. This is why the infrastructure being offered by Better Place will not only provide numerous charging posts for these cars (including one at the residence for those owing or leasing one of them) but also the battery exchange stations as well.

When asked how many of these stations are now available, Moshe Kaplansky Israel Better Place CEO smiled and told reporters at the car send off event at Pi Glilot: “There are enough such stations already in place to take care of this first ‘wave’ of electric cars. This many cars going off is already proof that the change to electric cars is already here.”

The sheer newness of electric cars in places like Israel is reminiscent of when gasoline powered cars began plying the roads more than 100 years ago. The owners of these “horseless carriages” were often ridiculed by people who would say “get a horse” when the newfangled contraptions stalled on the roads.

One might wonder if people nowadays will say “get a normal car” when electric cars are stalled on the road when their battery runs out of charge. Even so, there’s no turning back to what may now be heralding the future of driving on our roads and highways.

More about Better Place and other electric cars:
Better Place EV’s Priced in Israel at $35,623 for Summer Delivery
Chevy Volts Already Rolling into dealerships
Electric Cars Are Coming; Are Israelis Ready for Them?
Maurice Test Drives the Better Place Electric Car: “Like a Dragster”
 

Often thought of as too expensive or sophisticated for the average driver, plug-in electric vehicles will soon be available even to the occasional driver. Israel’s largest car rental company, Eldan, signed an agreement with Better Place electric vehicle company on December 5, making hundreds of Renault Fluence Z.E. electric cars available to the general public by 2012 through Eldan’s standard rental program. The decision, which makes Eldan the first car rental company to offer EVs as an option, may push the electric vehicle (EV) farther into the Israeli mainstream.

“We are pleased to be the first company to offer drivers the opportunity to enjoy a new driving experience, and we call upon other companies to join the green trend with us,” said Eldan co-CEO Shai Dahan in a statement.

In a statement, Eldan said the partnership was a result of customer demand for electric vehicle rental options. But beyond simply encouraging other car rental companies to follow suit, the Better Place-Eldan partnership will also propel EV infrastructure developments forward. As part of the agreement, Better Place will install more EV infrastructure, including Charge Spots, Battery Switch Stations and Customer Care stations across the country.

Improved infrastructure is, in turn, likely to make purchase of an electric vehicle more enticing to mainstream Israelis.

“The agreement with Eldan enhances Better Place’s position in the Israeli market,” said Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kaplinsky in a statement. “I am pleased that Eldan has identified this market demand.”

But even if Israel sees a more widespread adoption of electric vehicles, the country–which produces most of its electricity with fossil fuels–may not necessarily reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. And some have accused Better Place of putting more effort into its own monopoly over Israel’s EV infrastructure than into actually promoting clean technology.

It remains to be seen if Israel will manage to overhaul its electric generation system, using smart grid and demand response technology, to harness intermittent renewables and then use EVs as clean green energy storage. The Better Place-Eldan partnership could be the first step in that direction.

With Chevrolet Volt hybrid cars now on the road for nearly a year since their debut at the end of 2010, and further to our comparison of  the Chevy Volt to the Better Place Renault Fluence EV issues are now being raised as to how both of these cars have fared in simulated crash tests. Both the Chevrolet Volt and the Renault Fluence ZE, the car that Better Place is using for launching its electric car battery exchange network in countries like Denmark and Israel, were subjected to simulated road crash tests.

The crash tests have been carried out in the well known  Euro NCAP testing center  that  gives tested cars  crash resistance ratings scores ranging from 1 to 5 points.

Chevy Volt side test resulted in battery pack catching on fire

 The Euro NCAP crash tests are conducted a speeds to 65 km/hr (40 mph) and are designed to simulate a collision of two similar sized cars, both of which are traveling at an averaged speed of 55 km/hr. Both the car’s front and rear ends are tested for crash resistance; and special dummies inside are also monitored as to how they react to the force of the impact. Side impact tests are also conducted to see how the car and its passengers fare when hit directly on the sides as well.

In a crash test involving the Chevy Volt, as reported in an article in the Christian Science Monitor, the Volt’s lithium battery pack caught fire in one test, and nearly did in another test. These events resulted in probes into the safety of these batteries by the America’s National Highway Safety Administration.

The overall crash test results of both of cars resulted in the Fluence EZ having an over crash test rating of 4 points, as compared to the Volt receiving a higher score of 5 points, highest in the auto safety rating program.

Renault has been promoting its cars as being some of the safest in the world; and the fact that the Volt received a higher test crash rating appears to disprove this claim. The Volt also scored higher points in the rear-end whiplash crash test; scoring 2.9 points against the Fluence scoring 2.0 points.

As a comparison, the Korean KIA Rio, a car that previously had a very bad crash test record, actually scored higher than both the Volt and the Fluence in total crash statistics for both adult and child passengers.

Both the crash tests on the Volt and the Fluence appear to show a vulnerability to their lithium battery packs, especially when hit in the side.

Whether or not the GM Volt and Renault Fluence manufacturers can strengthen their cars more in respect to damage from crashes remains to be seen. This appears to be especially critical in regards to the danger of the cars’ battery packs catching fire or even exploding in a serious car crash.

Safety factors are one big reason why consumers still buy gas-guzzling SUVs.

Read more on electric cars:

Better Place Denmark Hopes to get Electric Car Venture (finally) Going in October

Better Place EV’s Priced ad $35,623 for Summer Delivery

GM’s Volt vs the Renault-Nissan Better Place Electric Edition

New Chevy Volts Already Rolling into Dealerships

]]> http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/11/volt-fire/feed/ 9 http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/11/better-place-electric-car-200-million/ http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/11/better-place-electric-car-200-million/#comments Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:48:34 +0000 Karin Kloosterman http://www.greenprophet.com/?p=57547 A pregnant me at the very sunny Better Place visitor center last year.

With the launch of the first nationwide electric car networks rolling out in Israel and with Denmark just months away, the electric car company Better Place today reports that it has secured another $200 million in financing, on top of the $55o million already invested in it. The company which is developing infrastructure for electric cars and thus speeding up the process of getting a quick “charge” needed for electric cars, says it will use the money to expand its business in Western Europe. It will also build on projects in Northern California, Southern China, Japan, Ontario, Canada, and Hawaii.

According to a recent press announcement the company will go fully commercial in both Israel and Denmark early in 2012, although a pilot run of the Better Place charge stations around Israel is supposed to be in effect. By the second quarter of 2012, Better Place expects to go commercial in Canberra, Australia.

“We’ve worked hard over the past four years to engineer and build a technology solution that competes with oil-based transportation,” said Shai Agassi, the founder and CEO.

Investors in the Series C round include General Electric, and UBS AG, among others, with existing shareholders including Israel Corp., HSBC Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, VantagePoint Capital Partners, Ofer Group and Maniv Energy Capital.

We get a lot of announcements and updates from the company. Here’s what’s happening on the ground:

In Israel, Better Place has seen a demand from both fleets and consumers, as over 400 corporations, representing a potential of 80,000 employee cars, have signed letters of intent to begin switching their fleets to Better Place as the cars and the service become available.

In Denmark almost 7,000 people have come to the Better Place Center in Copenhagen, opened earlier this year, with 90 percent expressing an interest in buying an electric car in the future. The company has received over 1,000 pre orders from both private and business customers. Better Place also has been successful in reaching agreements with 50 of the country’s 98 municipalities, covering 69 percent of the population, related to infrastructure deployment and fleet transitions.

In Australia, the company’s first large country deployment, Better Place has announced a series of agreements with multi-national companies, including Renault and GE, and leading local companies including ActewAGL, Lend Lease, and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV), for the introduction of electric cars and the rapid deployment of an electric car network.

By the end of 2013, Better Place expects to have the largest electric car network in the world in Australia, rivaling other competitive efforts underway in the US and China.

Would I drive a Better Place car? With the roads getting tighter, and air pollution getting worse everywhere, I think that this might be one of the only fully electric car solutions that could work –– at least for the people who are commuting to work and who need to know they can get a quick charge while out on the road. People like myself who drive short distances only would be fine buying an all electric car that can be charged at home.

::Better Place

Want to drive an all electric car Better Place but can’t afford it? In a release issued by the company today Better Place, the Israeli-designed electric car with battery switch stations, and the country’s Union Bank have signed what’s to be the the first agreement to bank financing for electric cars. Customers looking to drive an electric car by Better Place can get financing to do so.

Under the agreement, Union Bank offers financing for private customers to purchase the Better Place – Renault Fluence ZE. It also finances service packs that Better Place is offering. While no mention of the financing rates were made public, the Union Bank says Better Place customers will get “preferential terms that are highly attractive”.

Using this financing electric car ownership model, this could be the start of a global change to reducing the use of fossil fuel cars on the road.

Bank representatives will work exclusively at the Better Place showroom in various districts so customers can open the paperwork for the loan while they are test driving the car.

“I am happy to join the Union Bank of the green revolution that leads to Better Place, which is a major breakthrough in the Israeli market and offers unique financing routes electric car buyers,” said Union Bank CEO Chaim Friilichman today.

Read more on Better Place:
Better Place Reveals its Danish Car Prices
Better Place Unveils its Mammoth Charging Plan
Journalist Accuses Better Place of Contempt of Israeli Consumers

Better Place launches another brand new business in Israel – used electric car sales.

Better Place, the company bringing an electric car infrastructure to Israel, has been changing so much about how the Israeli public thinks about transportation.  It has educated the public about the benefits of using electric cars, taught us that a whole new electric infrastructure can be created to replace fossil-fuel-guzzling gas stations, and now it is teaching us that yes, there is such a thing as a used electric cares salesman.  According to a recent agreement between Better Place and Trade Mobile, Better Place customers will be able to enjoy car trade-in services when buying or selling Renault Fluence Z.E. electric cars.

This is the first such agreement of its kind in the Israeli electric car market and is opening up a whole new green industry.

The trade-in agreement is environmentally significant in two ways: firstly, customers will be able to trade-in their traditional cars when buying an electric car, and secondly, electric car users wanting to upgrade can trade-in their Renault Fluence and let someone else enjoy it second-hand.  In both instances, cars are kept out of the landfills and consumers are moving to electric.

Menashe Barak, the CEO Trade Mobile, said that “from the beginning Better Place expressed its desire to establish a high level trade-in system to provide quality service to its clientele, and this is out of an understanding of the importance of the ‘second-hand market’ to the company.

“We believe that a stable and valuable second-hand market of electric family-sized vehicles will develop in Israel over the next few years,” Barak said.

Read more about Better Place::
Israeli Electric Cars on the Fast Track
13 “Better Place” Cars Hit the Streets of Israel to Test “Charge”
Better Place Launches Test Drive and Electric Car Education Facility in Israel

Image via: Hakan Dahlstrom

If powered renewably, Better Place electric vehicles can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions (unless you listen to Dan Rabinowitz). This potential transition to cleaner vehicles notwithstanding, one Danish municipal council has vetoed Better Place chargers because of their color. Frederiksberg Council claims that the chargers which accompany any new Better Place electric vehicle are not suitable for street installation because they are blue and gray, and not green.

Jan E. Jørgensen, chairman of Frederiksberg’s technical and environment committee, told Urban newspaper that it is Better Place’s responsibility to ensure that their chargers fit Frederiksberg’s rule that dictates that all outdoor equipment must be green.

Better Place believes this mandate is absurd. Since the electric vehicle chargers are mass-produced for an international audience, it is unreasonable to expect the company to produce a different color for every country (or municipality) within which it operates.

“Putting the colour of a charging station over a clean city environment, with less noise and particle pollution, is beyond me,” Claus Melvej from Better Place told The Copenhagen Post. He added that the council’s veto jeopardizes the transition to more sustainable forms of transportation.

Better Place chose Denmark as a testing ground for its EV systems and hopes to install another 19 stations in the upcoming year. That seems feasible enough, except, apparently, in Frederiksberg.

:: Copenhagen Post

The Better Place EV saga continues:

Better Place Reveals its Danish Car Prices

Better Place Unveils its Mammoth Charging Plan

Journalist Accuses Better Place of Contempt of Israeli Consumers

Haaretz writer Dan Rabinowitz claims that the Better Place pricing structure for its electric vehicles in Israel shows nothing but contempt for the consumer. Not only does he believe the vehicles will be less eco-friendly and cost effective as marketing schemes have depicted them, but he also claims that the vehicles are just a foil for a better financial incentive: a monopoly on the country’s future charging stations.

Rabinowitz lists a string of claims made by Better Place and then proceeds to demonstrate how those claims are actually well-disguised tricks or “gimmicks.”

• The cars won’t really reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Israel (giving, I’m guessing, how long it will be before electricity is derived from renewable energy sources.)
• Now that the full pricing and technical plan has been made public, there appear to be holes that will end up costing the Israeli consumer.

For example:

• • The vehicles will cost just over $36,000 – more than their non-electric equivalent, the Renault Fluence. This pricing was set up when a 70% tax was expected, but now Better Place will only pay a 10% tax. That big break goes straight to the company, not the consumer.
  • Better Place will require consumers to buy a minimum package that gives them just under 12,500 miles a year with $3,806 worth of charge (which is less than the average Israeli pays for gasoline). The problem is, the average Israeli drives much less than 12,500 miles a year and is unlikely to receive a refund on unused kilowatts or miles.
  • Better Place announced it would purchase2,600 kiowatt-hours of electricity from the Israel Electric Corporation in order to power one car for 20,000 kilometers.  That amounts to $380, at least ten times less than the consumer will be charged.

“What is this, cottage cheese?” he asks, referring to the soaring price of what is basically a feature in most Israeli refrigerators.

There’s more. Rabinowitz’s most scathing accusation may be that the EVs are just a sideshow for what has become one of the most powerful companies in the world.

The contempt Better Place is demonstrating for the Israeli consumer will presumably greatly reduce the number of electric cars sold here, but it’s not clear the company cares. Indeed, it’s not inconceivable that the electric car is just a gimmick. The big money for Better Place lies in the monopoly it received from the state on building and operating charging stations.

Pie in the sky environmental protection be darned! Rabinowitz presents a compelling case that Better Place EV comprises nothing more than corporate business as usual.

:: Haaretz

More on the Better Place EVs:

Better Place Unveils its Mammoth Recharging Plan

Better Place Inaugurates First Battery Swap in Denmark

Better Place Plans First Commercial Battery Charging Network in Hawaii

Renault and Nissan, who happen to be partner auto companies, and who both are developing electric cars the Fluence and the Leaf, came out with the same clever advertisement: “What if everything we use ran on gas?” The ads are designed to coincide with the launching of both the Renault EV series of electric cars and Nissan’s Leaf, which is currently not scheduled to be introduced into the Middle East. The Renault Fluence electric model, with the help of  the Better Place electric car technology company, is about to begin selling in Israel by late summer.

Electric car charging posts will one day replace gas pumps

The clever Nissan and Renault advertisements showed people what it would be like if items currently powered by electricity were powered by gasoline engines instead.

Watching people shaving or drying their hair with shavers or dryers powered by smoke belching gasoline motors, is enough to make you retch.

This also is true for large offices where all the computers, copy machines, telephones, and other  appliances  we take for granted as being powered by electricity were powered by fossil fuels instead. The noise and smoke is enough to drive you mad.

The clincher of these, of course is to tell people that since electricity plays such an important part of our lives to run all these appliances, why not use this clean quieter power source to power the cars we drive as well.

What the ad doesn’t tell you, however, is that  fossil fuels, including natural gas  still produces most electricity. Nuclear energy, another widely used electricity fuel source showed everyone  its tragic consequences by  the meltdown of three nuclear reactors at a nuclear power plant in Japan .

But this issue is not at the forefront of either Renault or Nissan’s efforts to put thousands of electric cars on the roads of Europe or Japan in the next few years. What produces that electricity will hopefully one day be coming from renewable energy sources, most likely the sun.

Watch the ads below. They are fun!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read more on Nissan and Renault electric cars:
Turning Another Leaf in the Middle East
The Middle East Will Remain Leaf-Less
Better Place EV’s Priced at $35,623 for Summer Delivery
GM’s Volt vs the Renault-Nissan Better Place Edition

Ever since Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi opened his Better Place test drive center near Tel Aviv, back in February 2010, more and more Israelis have had the chance to not only find out about Agassi’s unique electric car battery swap concept, but also a chance to drive one, as I did in April last year. I  was very impressed by the quietness of the ride, as well as how much pick up the engine had; describing the acceleration to be “like being in a rocket”. This week Better Place announced pricing for its first models.

Battery charging posts (Company owned)

It has taken a while to reach this point, and although the infrastructure for recharging the car’s lithium ion battery pack, as well as exchanging a run down battery for a freshly charged one is still not really in place, it appears that the Better Place car will finally be ready to go on sale, as early as mid July.

These details were released on May 15 by Better Place, and local papers in Israel  talked about the company’s usage  pricing policy, that will be based on how much a person drives per month.

The monetary details dealing with the price of the car itself, including government tax reductions for purchasing a car that will hopefully cause less air pollution if many people drive them, works out as follows: The price of the “basic model” car, a Renault Fluence EV, without the monthly service package, is NIS 122,900 or US$ 35,623 at current exchange rates.

A more luxurious model with leather seats and other luxuries (like a special sound system, etc.) will cost the purchaser NIS 129,900 of US$37,652. The basic car model is not “stripped down” by any means, however; and will include a computerized driving and energy management system, a GPS navigation system, online hook-up to a call center, a four-year manufacturer’s warranty, split climate control air conditioning, cruise control, a hook-up for mobile devices, rain sensor, and automatic lights.

Both models will have a special computerized automatic transmission to make driving one of these cars an almost effortless undertaking.

Electric car power package

The “service package”, besides giving a four year comprehensive insurance policy on the car, will be based on how much road usage will be done by the drivers, and will begin at NIS 1,090 (including VAT) for up to 20,000 kilometers a year, NIS 1,300 for up to 23,000 kilometers a year, NIS 1,470 for up to 26,000 kilometers a year, and NIS 1,599 for up to 30,000 kilometers a year.

It remains to be seen whether these cars will be a hit with the general public, since the maximum cruising range between charges or battery “swapping” is only about 135 km. This distance is also depending on whether the car is driving in the daytime or at night, and what accessories are being used (especially the AC).

Agassi thinks about the future

The first real commercial debut for the Better Place electric car concept was back in February in Copenhagen where the car hit the streets commercially, despite only a few battery exchange stations and recharging posts installed.

The “jury” is still out in that country, as car testing authorities there say that the “forced” tie into the Battery Place service network is less desirable than being able to recharge the car’s battery pack on one’s home electrical current.

We’ll all be a bit wiser about this project’s potential when the actual sales launch does take place, together with the appropriate fan fare and media hoopla. Who knows?

The Israeli public may actually fall in love with the car and its concept, like many did for hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. The real “proof of the pudding” though will be how much used models will sell for a few years down road. In fact, it might be better to wait a few years and then buy a used one, if one wants to really save money!

Read more on Better Place:

Denmark Prepares to (Slowly) Enter the Electric Car Market

Better Place Reveals Danish Electric Car Prices

Better Place Says U.K. Not Giving Electric Cars a (Tax) Break

Maurice Test Drives the Better Place Electric Car