Subaru News - Better Place: more partnerships in Japan; electric car parking lot opens in Israel

December 10, 2008 by tsikot

Better Place: more partnerships in Japan; electric car parking lot opens in Israel

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Subaru, Green Daily, Japan, Middle East, Better Place

A few bits of news from the Better Place electric vehicle juggernaut today.

One, Israel’s first electric parking lot has opened at Cinema City in Pi-Glilot. Pictured above is Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kaplinsky with one of the Renault vehicles plugged into the station. So, how does the Better Place battery-swap idea fit in with these charging stations? There is an interesting tidbit in this Guardian article that says that Better Place “expects a lithium-ion car battery to last for 106 miles. Given Israel’s small size, the company expects relatively little need for changing batteries.” Let’s just note for the record that Better Place is OK with not swapping the packs. (The Guardian says the first charging station in Israel is located by a shopping center in Ramat Hasharon, near Tel Aviv.)

The second announcement is that Better Place will join with Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., (i.e., Subaru) and “other Japanese carmakers” for a electric vehicle project in Japan (guess the rumors were true). For now, Better Place is building a battery exchange station in the city of Kanagawa for the Ministry of Environment. The government project will start in January and last “three to six months.”

Gallery: Better Place Charging Station