Susita, and Cash For Clunkers, Israeli style

Copying the wildly popular Cash for Clunkers program in the United States, the Israeli government has announced its own plan to get polluting gas guzzlers off the streets and cities of Israel.

While it’s not really that common to see Texas-size Cadillacs and old gas guzzling V8 engines in Israel anyway – with gas at about $2 USD a liter, and with 100% import tax, who could afford such luxuries – the plan is to get people to trade in their more polluting hunks of steel for more fuel efficient, less polluting cars.

The first car-composting lot opened in the city of Ashdod on Friday and new sites are expected to open across the country over the coming months. The deal is that anyone with a car more than 20 years old (you must have proof) will be given NIS 3,000 (about $800 USD) in exchange.

Some NIS 100 million (about $30 million dollars) has been allocated to support the program, being sponsored by Israel’s ministries of environmental protection and infrastructure. The Hebrew reporter writing the article did say that the Israeli version of Cash for Clunkers was copied on the model developed by US President Barack Obama.

The American program, whose name has been changed to the rather less catchy Car Allowance Rebate System, proved enormously popular. Owners received $4,500 each for their heaps of steel. More than 700,000 new vehicles were sold as part of the program, which a number of other countries have also adopted (Mexico too, for example).

Thousands of polluting cars, which are also deemed unsafe, are expected to be taken off the roads. Perhaps to pave the way for Shai Agassi’s electric car of Better Place?

More on cars:
A DIY Electric Car
Michigan State Looks to Rev Up Battery Business With Israel
New Vehicle Tax in Israel Stiffs Hybrids