Israeli electric car stations for Australia
The electric car network established in Israel by Shai Agassi is now a functioning unit, albeit still at the trialling stage.
Battery Swap Station
The operation has cost US$400 million and now dozens of electric cars have now become available in the program Agassi has called Better Place.
There are four functioning stations at which drivers can exchange drained batteries for fully-charged ones…a venture Agassi hopes will prove to improve the environment and remove the economic threats from the oil-producing countries.
The cars operate on the basis of having removable batteries which owners can choose to recharge themselves at work or at home…or swap at the slick new exchange stations.
Drivers question the range capacity citing the problems that could be encountered in running out of juice at the wrong place or at the wrong time.
Australia remains on Agassi’s radar. I spokeperson for the Australian branch of his company told J-Wire: ” I can confirm that operations have begun on a small scale in Israel. Over 140 Fluence ZE cars have been delivered and most of these are being driven by employees. Here in Australia, we are in the final stages of our detailed network planning as we prepare to roll out our network in Canberra, our first target city for Australia. To date we have installed nearly 100 charge spots across Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle as part of the two government trials in which we’re taking part – the Victorian Government Electric Vehicle Trial, and the Smart Grid Smart City trial currently underway in Sydney and Newcastle.”
