Israel to Back Electric Car Plan

[danny]

http://jalopnik.com/cars/news/israel-to-back-electric-car-plan-321692.php

Isreal's cabinet is set to endorse an aggressive plan to convert the country to all electric cars, which is a decent idea if you're surrounded by oil-producing countries that kind of hate you. The idea is to spread charging points (500,000 of them) across the country and let people buy the cars and lease the batteries at a low cost, similar to cell phones. It's a fascinating proposal and may have legs thanks to the endorsement, which comes with major tax breaks and other forms of support. Renault has been mentioned as a possible partner, but the plan hasn't gotten quite that far.

The idea is the brainchild of former SAP exec Shai Agassi, who sees this as an opportunity to revolutionize car ownership and usage. Initially, power for the cars will come off the regular grid. But the firm plans to build a fully solar system once usage creates the capital and reason for such an investment. [Haaretz]

I have been saying Israel should do this. They are a great country for this to work due to its small size and expensive gasoline.

 

[TEG]

I wonder if Tesla is planning to jump on that bandwagon?

 

[tonybelding]

I don't see Tesla going for that, but I could imagine Th!nk or Mitsubishi doing so. They have product plans more aligned with this sort of venture.

Also. . . You can go around the world and cherry-pick locales where electric cars would be most viable: Israel, Hawaii, London. . . But the USA is the biggest waster of petroleum in the world. If you really want to tackle the larger global problem, the USA is the number one place to do it.

And Elon Musk is not known for thinking small.

 

[danny]

I see what your saying, Tony, about the US being the best place to go for first but I do think it might be a good idea to show the world that it can work somewhere else. Trying it in Israel for example has a greater chance of quick success and therefore would offer a sort of "study" on how to get it done.

 

[Kardax]

I think Tesla might someday export to Israel, but I don't see them participating in a battery swap scheme anywhere in the near future. That technology is little more than a 3D animation at this point; the technical challenges of implementing it could very easily eat all of Shai Agassi's $200 million.

Tesla has avoided making bets on unproven technology wherever they could, and they won't start here.

-Ryan

 

[Tesla2Go]

Isreal's cabinet is set to endorse an aggressive plan to convert the country to all electric cars,
.........

But the firm plans to build a fully solar system once usage creates the capital and reason for such an investment. [Haaretz]

Truly amazing, a proposal that makes this much sense.....