The Israeli EV company Better Place hasn’t been having an easy ride. Despite nearly a billion dollars in investment Better Place has failed to really convince the Israeli public that a swappable electric battery is the way to go.
Its partner car and battery builder Renault have also lost the faith in Better Place – a company that once had missionary powers in the Israeli investment community: EV World is reporting that Renault has ditched future plans to make any new models for the swappable Better Place styled electric car, and will focus on fixed, rechargeable lithium batteries instead. The Fluence ZE model will still be an offering, but new buyers or leasers of the Better Place electric cars in Israel should not expect any new car model soon. (In my opinion the Fluence ZE is a boring way to show off a new concept car.)
The final nail in the coffin for Better Place?
“When you look at the overall trends, we must conclude that replaceable batteries are no longer the main track for electric vehicles. The main track is flat batteries in cars with charging. We believe that people want flexibility in the technology, and we can see that the demand is for rechargeable standard batteries,” said Carlos Ghosn the chairman of Renault.
