November 15, 2010

Israel’s Transportation Ministry has approved the Better Place company’s plan to import 13 Renault Fluence electric vehicles (EVs) to start testing their infrastructure.

Better Place plans to commence commercial operations in late 2011.

The Israeli Transportation ministry announced yesterday that after signing oversight orders which eases the criteria to allow new importers into the vehicle market, it has approved this import. The cars are due to start arriving by the beginning of December.

The ministry also approved importing the Renault Kangoo, set to become the first electric vehicle available for commercial use. The ministry stated that Further EVs for non-commercial use should arrive in 2011, including models from Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Citroen.

Approval of Better Place’s request and the additional future imports are part of the ministry’s plan aimed at encouraging more environmentally friendly and safer vehicles.

Photo of a Better Place EV Battery Swap procedure

The ministry also requested that the Standards Institution of Israel establish a committee to create standards for EVs and the infrastructure required to build and maintain the electric vehicle industry. The committee intends to publish its standards in 2011.

Better Place’s 13 vehicles will test its system of charging stations and battery-switch platforms, as well as its Pi Glilot demonstration center, which is located at the main junction between Tel Aviv and Herzliya Pituach.

Simultaneously, Ha’aretz’s Business Daily, The Marker, reported that the National Infrastructures Ministry plans to forbid charging electric vehicles directly from one’s home. The business paper indicated that the reason for the policy is to regulate demand for electricity. The unstated reason is to impede the large-scale ale and use of competitive EVs which do not require recharging at regulated stations, as well as to prevent alternative EV companies from competing with Better Place, which has a strong foothold with key members of the Israeli government and the Transportation Ministry.

Should this policy be instituted and enforced, it would establish Better Place as the only company offering charging station and battery-swap infrastructure, and strengthen their partnership with car manufacturers. In other words, it would guarantee Better Place a monopoly at a crucial time in the development of the Israeli EV industry.

Israel would be the first country where the Better Place system will be rolled-out fully. The second country in its planned deployment to be achieved soon afterwards, is Denmark.

The company has also reached agreements with various US states and cities, as well as locales in Australia as well.

Better Place was founded by Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi and is based in California and Israel.

The Transportation Ministry said that already, there are 8,000 natural gas powered cars and 10,000 hybrid cars on the road in Israel.