100% electric and driving around Israel: nothing plainer than that!
I’ve seen a Better Place Renault Fluence ZE all electric car in the suburban community of Ramat HaSharon, and more than five months after Better Place put 100 electric cars on Israeli roads I spotted another Renault Fluence ZE car in the city of Netanya. This spotting was in the south Netanya Sapir Industrial Zone, not far from that city’s IKEA furniture and accessory store. 
Fluence ZE on the street
The car was seen parked on the main street of the industrial zone, Giborei Yisrael, and I managed to get some quick photos before the driver drove off. This car is apparently a lease model from the Albar car leasing company, which agreed last year to market “hundreds of electric cars” for Better Place and provide these cars to Albar lease customers.
This writer’s personal experience with the Better Place electric car project began back in 2009 when the idea of a country wide electric car network by the company founded by Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi began to work on producing an electric car that has a lithium ion battery pack that can be switched at special exchange stations. These stations were planned to be built in Israel, as well as in other countries, including Japan , and in Denmark. Better Place cars were planned to be launched in Copenhagen on a limited basis in the Fall of 2011.
Visiting the Better Place Test and Education Center north of Tel Aviv further increased my personal interest in the car. It now it finally appears that the long planned network of charging and battery pack replacement stations is being constructed in Israel. As one electric car owner, who lives in the country’s northern region, told a news reporter recently : “I hope to be able to soon drive my electric Fluence all the way to Eilat,” a distance of more than 400 kilometers.
We wish him luck as it will require at least 3 battery pack exchanges to get him down there, from exchange stations yet to be built.
Read more on the Better Place project and cars launched on the roads:
Better Place Electric Car Spotting
Better Place Puts 100 Electric Cars on Israeli Roads
Maurice Test Drives the Better Place Electric Car: Like a Dragster
Author: Maurice Picow
Maurice Picow grew up in Oklahoma City, U.S.A., where he received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. Following graduation, Maurice embarked on a career as a real estate broker before making the decision to move to Israel. After arriving in Israel, he came involved in the insurance agency business and later in the moving and international relocation fields. Maurice became interested in writing news and commentary articles in the late 1990’s, and now writes feature articles for the The Jerusalem Post as well as being a regular contributor to Green Prophet. He has also written a non-fiction study on Islam, a two volume adventure novel, and is completing a romance novel about a forbidden love affair. Writing topics of particular interest for Green Prophet are those dealing with global warming and climate change, as well as clean technology - particularly electric cars.
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