Israel tests electric car network

19 May 2012, 6:58 pm   -   Source: AAP

Israel is the site of the world's first nationwide electric car network, with Denmark due to be next, followed by Canberra later this year.

Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi is rolling out the world's first nationwide electric car network.

Now, will the drivers come?

After more than $US400 million ($A405.9 million) in outlays and more than a year behind schedule, dozens of electric cars have hit the road in Israel, the test site Agassi chose for his Better Place venture.

There are currently four stations where drivers can swap the depleted batteries of their cars in five minutes for fully-charged ones that provide a full, 160-kilometre range.

The concept is to wean the world from oil and eliminate the biggest hurdles to environmentally friendly electric cars - high cost and limited range.

Better Place owns the batteries and that cuts the purchase price of the cars using the network.

People driving shorter distances can plug in their batteries each day to chargers installed at their homes, offices and public locations, which will fully recharge in six to eight hours.

However Agassi faces a wall of scepticism.

A major concern is "range anxiety": Will the car conk out because its battery is drained, stranding the driver in a dodgy neighbourhood?

Rising fuel prices worldwide still haven't sent electric car sales surging, noted US-based automotive expert John McElroy.

Agassi, a former top executive at software giant SAP AG, said he is ready to prove his doubters wrong.

"We're driving a car that most people said would be a fantasy," he said.

The swappable battery model aims to reassure drivers about range and shows they don't need to sacrifice convenience or cash to switch to electric.

So far, the four Better Place battery stations are in central and northern Israel. Later this year about 40 stations are expected to operate across the country.

Even with the current stations, the company says a motorist could drive the 500-kilometres from Israel's northern tip to its southern end.

Agassi has raised $US750 million from investors including General Electric and HSBC Holdings since founding Better Place four-and-a-half years ago.

French automaker Renault is selling a sedan, the Fluence, customised to use the stations, priced in Israel at about $US32,000, comparable to other sedans sold there.

Currently, about 140 are on the road, most driven by Better Place employees.

Leasing companies, which buy about two-thirds of the more than 200,000 new cars sold annually in Israel, have ordered more than 1800, and private customers have ordered several hundred more.

Better Place, which had promised to have thousands of cars on the road last year, acknowledges the rollout is behind schedule, mostly because of bureaucratic hurdles and production issues at Renault.

Better Place has also spent years on testing its integrated system, which is connected to every car, so it can monitor the vehicles and correct problems remotely.

For instance, its software notifies drivers when their batteries are running low and directs them to the nearest switching station.

Israel sales director Zohar Bali predicts up to 5000 Fluences will be silently running on Israeli roads and highways within a year.

Israel was chosen for the experiment partly due to its tech-savvy population.

Also, with 80 per cent of the population living in a narrow, densely populated strip of the Mediterranean coast, it provides a perfect laboratory for the charging network.

Better Place claims it can cut 20 per cent off the annual cost of owning a car, particularly as fuel prices continue to rise.

Drivers buy access to the switching stations and charging spots with a monthly package ranging from under $US300 to over $US500, depending on mileage.

Denmark is set to become Better Place's second launch site this year.

Australia will be its first major market, with deployment in the capital, Canberra, also this year.

Small-scale projects are in place in Hawaii and California. Amsterdam is the next European target after Denmark.

The company also has its sights set on China, where it already has opened a demonstration battery switching station.

Agassi sees the "tipping point" for electric cars coming in two to three years, propelled by dropping prices of cars and batteries.

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