Better Place demonstrates electric vehicles in Israel

Tue Feb 9 2010, 11:27 AM

Californian startup Better Place is opening its first centre to demonstrate battery-swapping and charging stations for electric vehicles at a site near Tel Aviv, Israel. The firm hopes to overcome the charge-time and range limitations of batteries. Better Place plans to launch in Israel next year and claims to have signed up 92 corporate fleet owners, including Motorola and Computer Associates, which will convert a portion of their 45,000 cars to electric vehicles. The firm has also signed a deal with petrol station operator Dor Alon, which will set up battery swapping systems at its facilities.

The demonstration centre is located at the site of an old petrol storage and distribution facility in Herzliya, and will promote Better Places’ concept and enable people to test drive electric vehicles around a 1.5km track. A six-month trial of the scheme is scheduled to begin in September. The firm’s founder and CEO, Shai Agassi expects annual electric vehicle sales in Israel to exceed those of traditional cars by 2020.

Last month, Better Place raised USD350m in a Series B funding round led by HSBC Principal Investments. Other investors include Morgan Stanley, Lazard Capital, Israel Corporation, VantagePoint Venture Partners and Ofer Hi-Tech. Better Place is also developing projects in Australia, Japan, California and Hawaii.