Shai Agassi, the CEO of Better Place EV at a press conference. Pioneers can make startling predictions, and that’s what Shai Agassi from Better Place has done in Davos, at a meeting of the World Economic Forum last week. He tells AP: Before 2020 more people everywhere will be buying electric cars than those powered by […]
VW’s XL1 looks great and saves fuel. But is it affordable? Although the much written about Better Place electric car concept is a favorite on Green Prophet; and is even criticized as being an electric car monopoly in its origin country Israel, the cars themselves have yet to hit the streets on a commercial basis. […]
Masdar - the Eco-city - is home to the hottest and most energy efficient transport system in the world: The Personal Rapid Transit (pod car). The PRT is fast, powered by lithium batteries, driverless, can carry up to 10 people safely and looks oh so beautiful in the gleaming sun... Check out more here.
Commuters will ride for free. But will the toll-run “fast lane” help solve Tel Aviv’s increasing traffic nightmare? Looking for a faster way to get to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem every day? Instead of being stuck in the daily traffic jam, a daily routine for drivers coming from both Israel’s capital and the bedroom communities […]
The Volt is already “charging” towards customers, and hopefully success Finally, after months of speculation, marketing hoopla, and just plain old media hype, the first GM Chevrolet Volt electric cars went out to waiting Chevy dealerships and the customers who ordered them months before. The Volts, containing an electric engine as the main power driver, […]
ETV’s micro- turbine device to extend the range of the battery cell packs to up to twice the present driving range of 130 -160 km. Public charging posts (like this one) may not be needed. The electric car innovation and development industries in Israel have not been sparing media hype to make people more aware […]
This guy (Maurice) will have to wait till 2012 to have an electric car Contrary to reservations being made about the Better Place electric car company being a monopoly in Israel’s upcoming electric car market, it now appears that the head of one of the country’s largest holding companies, the Israel Corporation, is very positive […]
There’s more involved in running an electric car in Israel than just the electricity. The year 2011 is deemed by some to be the year when electric cars and their infrastructures will hopefully begin a trend in which people will begin using these environmentally friendly cars over those burning fossil fuels. The Better Place infrastructure […]
Better Place taxicab debut in Tokyo. A rollout of exchange spots is planned for Denmark. Better Place’s battery exchange network will be launched soon in Denmark; but at a much slower pace than originally planned, according to an article in the Danish Ingenoren transport website, and Martin Thomson, host of the electric car news web […]
Fueling up. Better Place hoped to “fuel” more interest at the “Summer Davos” economic forum. In a strong indication that he and his company are definitely on the world economic map, Better Place electric car company head Shai Agassi, together with Israel Minister for Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezar attended the annual World Economic […]
Testing Better Place Taxi in Tokyo. Will Taxi drivers go for only 130 km per charge? Jerusalem’s Rusty Mike Radio station is relatively new to the Middle East, but it is already popular with thousands of listeners in worldwide, especially with the station’s Wednesday night Car Talk talk show that is devoted exclusively to cars […]
April fool’s in Oman in August? The mystery Omani EV is purportedly going to run 2,250 miles on one charge. This may be just another Gulf State far-fetched innovation, like the white gold, biofuel-running Mercedes Benz in Abu Dhabi: Mr. Sultan bin Hamad al-Amri, CEO of Oman’s Noor Majan is promoting what will be the Middle […]
Tesla Model S Coupe: Expensive bang for your bucks. The Middle East can only drool for now. Tesla electric sports roadsters floated a successful IPO stock offering and are now tearing down the roads in European countries like Turkey, Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada. Still considered to be an expensive recreational toy due to its high price […]
Faster than a Ferrari, cleaner than a Prius, Tesla’s EV roadster is only $100,000: Is this reason for Tesla’s high IPO result? Tesla Motors, already a popular concept in Gulf countries, but whose high performance electric sports car has not turned a profit for them in the company’s seven year of operation, has suddenly put […]
Better Place electric taxi debuts in Tokyo. Is Tel Aviv next? Maurice volunteers himself to be the company’s test driver. Israel’s debut with total electric powered cars is coming, and Shai Agassi’s Better Place electric car company is going to bring this reality in Israel sooner than many people may be prepared for, including having enough […]
Jack meets with Better Place in Israel and talks shop about how their rechargeable battery solution can fix the grid. One of the biggest problems with switching an electric grid over to clean energy is storage. Most clean energy solutions are unreliable over short periods of time – when clouds come out, solar panels don’t […]
Afghanistan is not Pandora, but the tribal exploitation concept is similar Maurice argues. Now that American forces in Afghanistan are commemorating the longest period of any war that America has been involved in, including the 1965-73 Vietnam War, the recent discoveries of large and extremely valuable mineral and metal deposits may finally bring to light […]
Afghanistan’s desolate Ghazni Province may hold the world’s largest deposits of lithium. (Image: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) Just days after the Afghan War became the longest war in US history – 104 months, surpassing the 103-month American engagement in Vietnam – the New York Times, quoting top US government officials, reported the discovery of […]
Will “no hands driving ” work in the macho Middle East? It seems the race to create the most innovative electric powered vehicles has become even more bizarre: America’s General Motors recently unveiled its new EN-V Robot car in Shanhai China. The vehicle, which uses a GPS type guidance, vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communications system, is being […]
Taxis can’t wait all night to recharge: The Better Place battery switch is showing another way for electric cars, in Tokyo. A few days ago, Better Place electric car company sent out the press release. The Israeli-US company launched its electric taxis in Tokyo, Japan. The pilot will be small, with only 4 taxis which […]
Not a car, not a bike, not a buggy, not a lawn mower. Check out Honda’s one-wheel unicycle. Middle East readers want to know: Does it do dunes? We’ve written about electric cars, electric motorcycles and scooters, and even electric powered skateboards for an environmentally clean way to get travel short distances. But now, something new […]
Maurice charges a Renault Fluence: He’ll have a bit of a wait ’till he owns one. As a Green Prophet contributer, I decided that it was time to go see Better Place’s educational and test drive electric car center myself. This was important to me, especially since writing several articles dealing with the company’s electric […]
The Leaf won’t be sprouting its electric engines soon in the Middle East, says Nissan CEO. Nissan’s new Leaf electric car model may be about to roll off the company’s production lines, but it will be a while before it will be available in Middle Eastern markets, according to the company’s CEO, Carlos Ghosn. The […]
Nissan’s all-electric LEAF gives a run for Volt’s and Better Place’s money. Nissan has no plans, however, to target infrastructure-poor Middle East. The battle over which company will market the first practical electric car is becoming more intense with the introduction of Nissan’s new total electric LEAF model. The Japanese carmaker is marketing this new entry […]
Better Place’s financial batteries get “supersharged” with a massive $350 million investment. If you’ve been following clean tech news, you’ll know that Shai Agassi’s Better Place electric car development company has received a substantial “charge” for its financial batteries by receiving funding of $350 million. The investment comes by way of a consortium of investors that […]