Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Making the world a Better Place

From Yahoo Finance News, Sunday February 7, 2010, by Shira Rubin, Associated Press Writer:

RAMAT HASHARON, Israel (AP) -- Israel is on schedule to inaugurate a revolutionary electric car grid with dozens of recharge stations and thousands of cars on the road by next year, the project's developers said Sunday. The California-based company Better Place hopes Israel's model will lead a shift toward electric transportation worldwide.

...When the grid is complete, drivers will be able to recharge their vehicles using plugs installed next to parking spaces. On longer trips, motorists can stop at stations where a machine can replace the car's lithium ion battery. The cars, developed with Renault-Nissan, have a range of about 100 miles (160 kilometers) before the battery must be replaced.

...The company, founded by Israel-American businessman Shai Agassi, a former top executive at software giant SAP AG, raised $350 million from an HSBC-led investor consortium last month, one of the largest clean-tech investments in history. The new financing values Better Place at $1.25 billion.

Speaking Sunday, Agassi said his goal was to help end global dependence on oil. "Israel has taken on the problem (of oil dependency) and has decided independently to solve this for the entire world," he said....

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