With almost a billion in financing and electric battery charge and change stations in place nationwide, at its critical hour Israel’s electric car company Better Place failed. It went bankrupt this year. One of its first investors, and biggest backers Michael Granoff will be writing a tell-all book. He speaks with Green Prophet.
Dubai’s metro started running in 2009 (don’t fall asleep though) but Abu Dhabi, the wealthier Emirate, is only now reducing its dependence on cars with a swanky new rail and tram system. And Siemens hopes to hop on board.
There’s traffic. And then there is Cairo traffic, which can drive even the saintliest men and women to a special kind of madness. But a new public transportation option has popped up that could make getting from point A to point B significantly less stressful.
A tiny two-person electric car may be the last choice for Formula One race car drivers, but that was the electric ride of choice last week as Formula One drivers rode around Dubai. With massive luxury cars as the status quo, the Twizy was an unusual choice. But alas, it was all about promotion by Renault.
Bicycle riding in the Middle East is thwarted by challenging climate and terrain, and to lesser extent by culture. A new invisible helmet, akin to an airbag, and pictured above, could incite more Middle Eastern cycling.
Today is D-Day for electric car drivers in condos and apartments in Israel and who use the Better Place charging systems. The Israel Electric Company announced last week that yesterday was the cutoff date.
Turkey inaugurated the Marmaray undersea railway tunnel on Tuesday, linking Europe and Asia. It is the Marmaray, the world’s deepest immersed tube tunnel at 60.46 metres (198.4 ft).
This is the best pro-women’s rights stuff we’ve seen out of Saudi Arabia, ever. Saudi comedian Hisham Fageeh has posted his excellent No Woman, No Drive video to bring attention to the plight of women in the Middle Eastern country.
Jerusalem’s Festigalgal bicycle riding festival winds up next week with emphasis on using bicycles more for in-city transportation.
The forlorn photo of empty EV car charging posts says it all. Better Place, the electric car infrastructure company founded by entrepreneur Shai Agassi has still not found a buyer willing to come up with the actual money needed to purchase it.
As Qatar prepares for the 2022 World Cup amid bribery allegations and gross human rights violations, the world is watching every move. Which may explain why the Emir controls every major and minor decision – including the new Doha metro design.
Stella, a solar-powered family car designed by students from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in has won the World Solar Challenge 2013, ushering in a new era of efficient, practical cruisers that get all of their juice from the sun. It should inspire sun-lovers in the Middle East.
Volkswagen’s “hippie van” was the preferred mode of transportation for peace lovers during the 1960s, but Brazil is shutting down the last production line this year to meet rigorous new safety requirements. See our nostalgic photo tour of VW vans in the Middle East.
Tesla has received both critical acclaim and financial gain for its successful Model S sedan, and has followed this up with the development of the Model X SUV. At the same time, Tesla has planned to rapidly grow their supercharger network throughout North America and Europe and expand into the Asian market. Where does this […]
Jordan’s activists have officially petitioned to re-establish the country’s “green party”, according to human rights activist Ghandi Abu Sharar, who was also a founding member of the original Green Party of Jordan created in 2000. After failing to meet revamped requirements in the then-temporary Political Parties Law, the nascent party disbanded in 2008.
In countries like Saudi Arabia where the dangerous and fatal “sport” of drifting cars into crowds of people is considered a past-time, we wonder – can music be to be blame? According to a new study from Israel teens who are listening to their favorite songs while driving are more likely to make errors while […]
Biking enthusiasts in Palestine have welcomed the construction of the first cycle lane in the Palestinian territories on the main road leading from Jericho to Jerusalem. The 1,200-metre two-way cycle lane on the west side of Jerusalem Street in Jericho was completed in July at a cost of 179,000 euros and will be formally opened […]
Sometimes if you stand on the wrong corner of a busy street in Cairo, taxis will drive right on by, guilt-free, while in less populated cities throughout the Middle East and Africa, they are simply hard to find. Experimental taxi apps are in the works to ease the problem, but Brazil’s Easy Taxi heading our […]
Hybrid cars have had a slow start in the Middle East in comparison to other markets. One factor influencing sales is the fact that fuel costs tend to be lower than in other parts of the world, creating less demand for electric vehicles. However, a new crop of sport and luxury models could help change […]
After losing the Better Place electric vehicle company, Israel Corporation moved forward with a different holding in the same industry. Qoros Auto Company Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture between Israel Corp and China’s Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., has agreed to purchase EV and hybrid parts from American Axle Manufacturing Inc. (AAM).
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is pushing to revive a thirty year old plan to build a submarine rail link between Morocco and Spain, local Moroccan press reports.
The Better Place electric vehicle network was always an ambitious dream, and now it doesn’t have to die thanks to the man known as Captain Sunshine. The company declared bankruptcy in May, but today an Israeli court awarded the liquidation of its Israel-based assets and Swiss-based intellectual property to Yosef Abramowitz and a union of Better […]
When news of a $10 bicycle made of recycled cardboard first reached our desk, we didn’t think it would ever see the light of day, but in two days, Cardboard Technologies has already raised a whopping $16,070 on its Indiegogo campaign to mass produce what Popular Science Magazine called one of the best inventions of 2013.
No news that first-class passengers have deeper pockets than economy flyers. Now the World Bank confirms their carbon footprint is about sevenfold that of the average airborne Joe.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the “latest” in electric car technology – battery pack swapping for the company’s Model S – to a gushing crowd and an even more fawning press. “Really, it’s one of those things you need to see,” wrote Chris Velazco in TechCrunch before linking to a video of Thursday’s event complete […]