On a local radio show, Hawaii's Governor Linda Lingle said the state is in discussions with Project Better Place. The California-based startup, in partnership with Renault, has already announced its intention to bring electric cars to Israel and Denmark. A little over one week ago ABG reported on San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's interest entrepeneur Shai Agassi's project.

Raising Islands, a Hawaiian blog on science and environment, reports the Governor saying "We are also in discussions with the same organization. It's to create a society where you don't need to use oil or gasoline." The Hawaiian islands would seem a logical location for electric cars, given the islands' natural limitation on long distance driving and potential for abundant wind and solar electricity. Thanks to Simon for the tip.

[Source:Raising Islands]

It could be the quickest vehicle 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.

[Haaretz]

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.

[Source: Jerusalem Post, thanks to Vince for the tip]

Renault-Nissan's plans to build electric cars is looking more serious by the day. Nissan has announced its intention to build an electric car for Japan and the U.S., and said so in its presentation to the California Air Resources Board last month. Earlier this year, Renault made news signing on to Shai Agassi's Project Better Place plan to produce electric cars for Israel and, more recently, Denmark. Now, according to a Thomson Financial News report in Forbes.com, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said at a news conference in Portugal, 'We are negotiating to launch an electric car with a Gulf state.'

Israel's desire for electric cars is obvious. A small Middle East state with no oil reserves, it's demand for petroleum finances its enemies. A nation in the Gulf region, presumably with sizable oil deposits, would seem at first glance a less likely candidate to begin to shift toward electricity.

Lessons, perhaps, are being learned from countries as diverse as Norway and Brazil. Each has come to realize petroleum is more valuable as an export commodity than as a transportation fuel. Norway has 50 percent of Europe's oil reserves. Yet, electrics in the country are given incentives as it continues to export petroleum. The Nordic state is where Th!nk is headquartered. Brazil made investments decades ago to move automobiles off petroleum and on to locally-produced sugar cane ethanol. As petroleum has been found within its borders, rather than being burned locally it is shipped to world markets at ever climbing prices, helping mitigate the financial problems associated with petroleum imports plaguing many developing countries.

[Source: Forbes.com]

Deutsche Bank analysts took a serious look at the proposal of Project Better Place for electric cars in Israel and Denmark and came away impressed with its viability. The researchers returned to Germany believing that the Better Place idea would work not only in small countries with extremely high automobile taxes and gasoline prices, but also in the U.S.

As reported at Solveclimate.com, their conclusion states "From checking the Project Better Place business model, we are concluding that a pure electric car should not cost any more than a diesel- or a gasoline-powered car, and in most countries its operating costs should actually be lower."

The proposal, spearheaded by Israeli-American entrepeneur Shai Agassi, envisions a financial separation of the car from its battery, lowering the initial cost of ownership. Following the cell phone model, a monthly charge would pay for the battery and electricity. The electric cars would be manufactured by automakers. Nissan-Renault has already announced it will produce electric cars for the program in Israel and Denmark.

The report not only adds financial establishment credibility to the idea, it contained some news. It suggests that five to ten additional countries will announce similar programs before the end of the year. Perhaps more significantly, it predicts two more manufacturers will announce their intention to produce electric cars to work with the Better Place model. The Israeli new website Globes was given an exclusive copy of the report which appears on the site in Hebrew only. ABG has been following Project Better place closely, most recently posting a video of CEO and Founder Shai Agassi's speech on "The Future of Electric Cars."

[Source: Solveclimate.com]

Yesterday we told you of the impending announcement of a deal involving Denmark and Project Better Place. Now that it has been made official, we have the details of the agreement straight off the Project Better Place website.

Basically what we have here is the first date, in the form of a letter of intent, of what both parties hope will be a long and fruitful relationship. The stated aim of the entwining is to reduce CO₂ emitted by the Danish car fleet. The parties involved are Project Better Place and DONG, which is an energy company owned mostly by the Danish government. Though not mentioned on the PBP website, other articles about the deal state that a country-wide network of recharging stations will eventually be installed, though no references to battery-swapping were made.

Besides emission reductions, DONG believes other benefits will come about through Better Place Denmark. "With this project, we hope to contribute substantially to reducing CO2 emissions from Danish cars. At the same time, we will achieve a new way of storing the unstable electricity output from wind turbines, as EVs are typically charged during the night, when the exploitation of power generation is low. This provides optimum exploitation of our resources for the benefit of the environment," said Anders Eldrup, the CEO of DONG Energy.

Hopefully the Danish project will serve as a model of how renewable energy sources and the electrification of transportation can work together with synergy to solve some of our more pressing problems.

[Source: Project Better Place]

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.


[Source: Globes]

Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Project Better Place, gave an amazing speech at a New Democrat Network meeting recently. Want to know how Agassi's idea for electric cars got $200 million -- the "largest seed round of any venture in history?" Then you have to check out his speech below the fold which tells the history of the company, makes a case for electric cars and details his company's future plans.

The 25 minute video flies by thanks to Agassi's charm and humor. Project Better Place begins testing this year and it plans to have hundreds of cars on the road a year later. Agassi refers to renewable energy sources as "virtual oil fields" and talks of feeding power to the grid as a backup power source for a country. The speech ends with him predicting that by 2020, more new cars will be electric. If that prediction comes true, he will have likely played a significant role.


[Source: Google Video]

Look, more signs that Project Better Place is taking root in Israel.

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 Globes reports Project Better Place's CEO Shai Agassi is in Japan looking for partners to bring Project Better Place to the Asian country. Shai has nothing official to say just yet but he does tell Globes that there is a great chance of success in Japan because it's a "transportation island." Batteries would also not be a huge problem in Japan, the article notes. Below the fold is a recent video about Project Better Place with new shots of the Renault electric car driving on the street.

[Source: Globes]

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.

[Source: Project Better Place]

We told you there would be news today of a Project Better Place+Renault deal for electric cars and sure enough, here it is. The Project Better Place website has updated with new images and information. There is a press release about the deal that says "electric vehicles will be available for customers in 2011." There is also a press conference in Jerusalem at 11:40 a.m. IST, Media Q&A at 2:00 p.m. IST and there will be a webcast available online.

So, enjoy the gallery below (Photo credits: Jay Premack, Israel Hadari, Project Better Place), explore the new Project Better Place website and try to catch the press conference webcast. If you miss it, don't worry, I will post about the details of the deal right after the press conference.

[Source: Project Better Pace]

The video above is an interview with the Renault and Nissan (Renault has a 44.3% equity stake in Nissan) CEO, Carlos Ghosn by the Wall Street Journal. Ghosn says electric cars are 3-5 years away from "mass marketization," i.e that's when electric cars will make economic sense. The Wall Street Journal also has an article (or two) about Project Better Place+Renault's expected deal next Monday. Carlos has no comment on the deal but he does confirm the two are in talks about testing electric cars in "congested cities."

Red Herring also has an article about clean technology investment that includes Project Better Place. According to Red Herring, Project Better Place is in the top five clean technology companies that got funding in 2007. I think the $200m Red Herring and the Wall Street Journal uses may be a little low because Project Better may have received an additional $30m from Ofer Shipping Holdings in late December.

There are also fresh rumors that Tower Semiconductor, which is owned by Israel Corp., a Project Better Place investor, may have some kind of development deal. An interesting part to the Tower rumor is that Tower has a connection to the Chinese automaker Chery. How big is this deal? In the video above, Renault CEO Carlos says zero emission cars are in demand and can work in the cities, which represent 20 percent of cars sold.

Carlos says they don't make economic sense right now but cities like Israel plan major investment. If this is what leaked to the press, imagine what they have kept secret? I am looking forward to hearing more details about the connection to Chery and the plant. I don't want to be too optimistic but I expect at least one more city somewhere in the world (say China considering the Chery involvement) to be a part of the announcement ceremony Monday. Stay tuned.

Related:

• Israel Corp to invest $100m in new electric car
• Video of Project Better Place's battery exchange system
• Project Better Place working with Renault, to use fuel cells?
• BREAKING: Project Better Place's electric car debuts, deal with Renault confirmed
• First pictures and video of Project Better Place+Renault's electric car
• Rumors become expectations: Renault CEO to arrive in Israel for electric car project presentation

[Source: Wall Street Journal, Red Herring, Reuters, Globes]

Recently, I told you about a news report with the debut of the Project Better Place+Renault electric car. If you had problems seeing the video at the news site, try watching the Dailymotion video above. We got translations from several of our readers (Thanks again to Emil and Vadim) and Le Blog Auto also has translations. The report confirms many of the rumors we had heard like the car will be Renault's Megane and start production in 2010. The Project Better Place+Renault electric car will also have a range of 200km (124 miles) and, of course, use Project Better Place's battery exchange system.

Below the fold is a video by Project Better Place in response to the Davos Challenge on YouTube. The Project Better Place YouTube video includes lots of small children talking about electric cars. Davos is a meeting of many of the world's greatest thinkers and runs from the 23rd to the 28th of January in Davos, Switzerland. The Davos YouTube video asking for your YouTube video submissions is also below the fold.

We should hear more about the Project Better Place+Renault electric car on January 21st during a ceremony both companies are expected to attend. Stay tuned.

Related:

• Audi SynFuel driving World Economic Forum
• Videos: kids explain how cars harm the planet, Ford Escape hybrid daughter commercial

[Source: Le Blog Auto, YouTube]

Recently, I wrote about a TV news report on Project Better Place's first electric car. Le Blog Auto found a video of the report online and you can watch it here. The 10-minute video includes a ride along in the Project Better Place+Renault electric car, a look under the hood and even a short race between the electric car and a gas car (see gallery below). The report also has a photo of Bob Lutz, several popular electric cars (like the Tesla Roadster) and a long interview with Project Better Place's founder and CEO, Shai Agassi.

What does Shai say? Why is there a photo of Bob Lutz in the report? I can't understand a word being said. If anyone can translate this video, please post what's said in comments. Someone in a comment to the first article about the TV report asked if this was technically the confirmation of the Renault deal. As you can see in the screen grab above, that's a Renault logo for sure. Renault will probably make it official in a January 21st ceremony.

Can you believe we first wrote about Shai's electric car battery exchange station company last August? The Project Better Place model for creating electric cars is probably the fastest I have seen.

Update: Big thanks to Emil and Vadim for providing a translation of the video in comments below.

[Source: Thanks to a tip from colleague Simon, Keshet TV]