It could be the quickest vehicles to go from concept to a public, drivable prototype in automotive history. As previewed, "Israelis got a first demonstration Sunday of the electric car that developers hope will revolutionize transportation in the country and serve as a pilot for the rest of the world," began the report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
A parking lot in Tel Aviv hosted the demonstration of the Project Better Place/Renault collaboration. Acceleration was said to be impressive and the silent drive familiar to proponents of electric vehicles was noted in the silver, normal looking sedan. The car is expected to have a range of 125 miles, more than sufficient for most drivers in a nation that's no more than 60 miles wide and 260 long. Haaretz reports that several hundred cars will begin appearing on Israel roads in 2009, with sales to begin in late 2010.
One of the launching points for Shai Agassi's Project Better Place is in Israel and it looks like the first tangible progress might be demonstrated this weekend. The CEO of PBP is planning to drive a prototype electric car that is being developed at around noon on Sunday at the Fairgrounds and Conference Center in Tel Aviv Israel. Agassi will apparently provide an update on the status of the project to develop both electric cars and a charging infrastructure. Israel is just one of a number of countries to express interest in the program. According to Israeli President Shimon Peres, the hope is to have electric vehicles on the road in Israel by 2010. If any readers happen to be in Tel Aviv on Sunday and catch this send us a report.
Lots of Nissan electric car news today. Shortly after hearing that Nissan intends to be a global leader in affordable electric cars, news comes that the company is looking at a few cities to trial some of their new electric vehicle technology. One such city on the short-list is reportedly London. Carlos Ghosn says, "We have not yet got to the level of talking to the mayor's office. At this stage it is just a feasibility study, but London is definitely among the cities interested." London seems to be a rather obvious choice, considering the cities controversial new congestion charges which would offer zero-emission vehicles a big advantage over their gas or diesel-consuming cousins.
Let's recap the other recent news. Israel and Denmark want in on the electric car craze too. In fact, What Car reports that Israeli authorities have struck a deal with Nissan allowing the automaker exclusive rights to sell electric cars in Israel for a period of ten years. California is slated to be the first stop for an upcoming Nissan electric car in the U.S.
Interestingly, Nissan hopes to get 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, of range from a single battery pack, which could then be swapped out or recharged at an EV station -- sorta like an electrified version of today's gas stations and part of the Project Better Place idea. Ghosn says that Nissan is fully capable of offering an EV, sans battery, for the same cost of a normal gas-powered car. After the initial purchase, the cost of the battery and the amount of money spent keeping it charged will be less than the cost of gasoline. Ghosn also says that Nissan's electric cars will be sexy and attractive. That seems to cover all the bases rather well. Nissan, you've got our attention... we're waiting!
OPEC president Chakib Khelil believes that the already staggering price for a barrel of oil could continue to rise. Citing the low value of the U.S. dollar, Khelil says that investors are likely to continue to place their bets on oil, a necessary commodity. With current prices hovering around $120 per barrel of dino-juice, the sixty percent increase mentioned by OPEC's leading man would place the going-rate darn near $200 a barrel.
Those of us living in the U.S. have seen our gas prices rise at an alarming rate, but Whatcar in the U.K. highlights more problems for those living across the pond. A strike at the Grangemoth oil refinery in Scotland could cause a ripple effect which would reach consumers just in time for the summer driving season. OPEC has chosen not to increase their output to help curb the supply and demand problem. Kinda makes us long for the electric car, huh?
Although The Great Race has been postponed due to the recall of travel permits through China, the show will go on. According to the official website, "Great Race Sports owners, executives and participants are dedicated to honoring the history of this illustrious race." We think that the race, assuming it does take place, could gather a great deal of attention the world over. We've been keeping an eye on the race with posts on the E85-powered 1967 Aston Martin DB6 that will take part and other ethanol participants. This bears watching.
Photo by Soylentgreen23. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
As we noted when Dubai announced a test of GM Hybrids for taxi and limo service, just because the Emirate has a lot of oil doesn't mean it isn't interested in checking out alternatives. News is out today that the Dubai Group has made a large ($49.5 million U.S.) investment in Malaysian biodiesel company GBD and now has a 30 percent stake in that company. The emirate-owned Dubai Investment Group's CEO, Abdulhakeem Kamkar, said that renewable energy and biofuels are the "preferred industry focus" for the DIG (the DIG is a subsidiary of Dubai Group). By the end of the year, GBD's huge biodiesel plant should be able to produce up to 500,000 metric tons of biodiesel a year from palm oil (d'oh) and jathropha.
Until more eco-friendly alternatives become available, most of us are stuck burning fossil-fuels for our power, whether we're driving or just powering the lights in our homes. With that in mind, researchers from the Middle East are working on new ways to reduce the emissions from methane-gas burning turbines for power generation. Using very high heat and very low oxygen levels, Mohamed Sassi of The Petroleum Institute in Abu Dabi, along with Mohamed Hamdi and Hamaid Bentîcha from the National School of Engineers of Monastir in Tunisia, have modeled what is known as flameless combustion, or flameless oxidation (FLOX). This new process could drastically reduce the harmful NOX emissions associated with gas-burning turbines while also being more efficient.
We have hopes that the widespread generation of power could be taken care of with alternatives such as wind, solar and wave power, but since even landfills give off methane gas, technology such as this could prove very useful in the future.
As our faithful readers are aware, we reported last November that the government of Denmark has been talking with Project Better Place about the possibility of setting up an electric car program along with a charging station network. Now comes word of the impending official announcement of the initial pilot program.
The Israeli business news publication Globes is reporting that the Danish government will announce that Shai Agassi's much touted Project Better Place, with financing help from its major investor, Israel Corp, will begin a program to study the feasibility of the project in Copenhagen and other locations.
Not only have Danish officials recently visited Israel to meet with the company, but a prototype of the project's electric car, based on the Renault Megane (pictured above) has already been shipped in the opposite direction and may be on hand for tomorrow's announcement.
Two companies have been chosen to implement the charging infrastructure designed by Better Place. Aran Research and Development Ltd. and Nekuda DM Ltd will develop and install the first of an intended 500,000 charging sites in Israel alone. Hundreds will be installed in 2009. According to the Israeli business website Globes, "Project Better Place's engineering and marketing teams have formulated the design, safety, engineering, and operational features of the recharging stations."
The Better Place charging site is intended to be much more than an electrical outlet. It is meant to create a new paradigm of automobile ownership. Nissan/Renault has committed to making the electric cars without which Shai Agassi's vision for Israel remains a mere scheme. But it would be very welcome If Agassi's plan finds a way to take the apparent burden of battery cost and warranty off the shoulders of car makers and lower the cost of electric car ownership. Of course, $100-plus per barrel oil and the economies of scale of the manufacture of components in electric cars could rapidly disappear the cost difference between internal combustion and plug-in cars.
Gallery: Project Better Place Renault Nissan Signs Deal
With India's emergence in recent years as a booming automotive market, the country needs a booming supply of oil to power all the new vehicles. Unfortunately for Indians, they don't have nearly enough domestically-produced oil, so they are forced to import their supplies from other countries. In an effort to reduce dependency on the Middle Eastern oil-producing nations, Indians are looking to get oil from countries in Central Asia and Africa. Purchasing the oil is all well and good, but how then does India get the oil from the ground in some other country to the tanks of cars in its own? According to this article, through massive pipelines and oil tankers across a sea and an ocean.
The article also highlights the point that other emerging countries, especially China, are all fighting for the same oil supplies, along with the already established players in Europe and the U.S. There's only so much oil to go around, folks, and every country is trying to get their hands on it.
Not long ago we posted on Lotus' plans to develop business in Saudi Arabia. Lotus Engineering and Mubadala Development Company have now announced a similar agreement in Abu Dhabi, the capitol of the United Arab Emirates.
As in the case of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi is wondering what to do when they run out of oil to sell. As the announcement from the Lotus and Mubadala states, a company that reduces well-to-wheel CO2 emissions can be a good idea for Abu Dhabi's plans. The company will work with advanced lightweight materials and hybrid technologies
The press release states that this will support "Abu Dhabi's low carbon footprint philosophy" and will "address the environmental imperatives facing the automotive industry globally." You can read it after the jump.
Piaggio, the scooter maker best known for making Vespa, will be the first to sell electric vehicles in Isreal, in just one month. According to Ha'aretz, the electric vehicles will be Piaggio's Porter brand, small multipurpose vans (MPV) which come in five types, including models with payload tippers. The vans have 12 or 14 horsepower engines, a top speed of 36 MPH and 155-mile range on a full charge, which takes about two hours from a normal home outlet. The van will cost 120,000 Israeli Shekels ($33,018 US dollars).
Why is Paggio doing this now? Israel recently instated a "green tax" on cars hoping to develop their electric car market. A Paggio company spokesman says they have won approval "in principle" for the tax breaks on the purchase price of cars. Project Better Place and Renault were the first companies to come out in support of Israel's push for electric cars but it's open to any green car maker. I fully expect many more automakers to sign up just like they did with Thailand's government program to make green cars.
Recently, I wrote about the Project Better Place+Renault press conference. Here are some interesting details from the two webcasts titled Press Conference and Media Q&A and linked to from the Project Better Place website. Renault-Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn says the cars will have a maximum price of a gas car and a lifetime warranty. Carlos also says that in 2011 Renault-Nissan will mass market other kinds of electric cars it will sell around the world. There was a question about the loss of government money if people don't pay gas taxes that Shai Agassi, founder and CEO Project Better Place, answered. Shai says it's better for Israel to keep money in the country and that the government told him that if he succeeds, they will tax him.
Production of the cars will initially be in Renault's European plants and not in China or Israel as some expected. Ghosn did say if demand is greater than expected (an idea hinted at several times in the press conference) it would be a good idea to bring production to Israel. There are some funny moments too. Shai says hybrids are like mermaids, when you want a woman you get a fish. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert affectionately called Shai the boy from children's book who says the King had no clothes.
The signing of the Project Better Place+Renault contract is a great moment. Should everything go right, in 2011, tens of thousands of electric cars will be sold and will be recharging (in) Israel.
It could be the quickest vehicles to go from concept to a public, drivable prototype in automotive history. As previewed, "Israelis got a first demonstration Sunday of the electric car that developers hope will revolutionize transportation in the country and serve as a pilot for the rest of the world," began the report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 
Lots of Nissan electric car news today. Shortly after hearing that Nissan intends to be a 
Not long ago we posted on 
Recently, I wrote about the 
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