Better Place yesterday signed an memorandum of understanding with the Hawaiian Electric Company Inc. to deploy an electric car recharging infrastructure in Hawaii. Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle and Better Place CEO Shai Agassi unveiled the plan, which includes building the necessary electric power sources to be generated by renewable resources, such as wind and sun.
Hawaiian Electric Company and Better Place Hawaii will collaborate on both the infrastructure and energy sources to power Better Place’s unique network of public charging spots and battery swapping stations.
Better Place plans to begin permitting for the network within the next year and begin introducing vehicles within 18 months, with mass-market availability of electric cars in 2012. Hawaii joins Israel, Denmark, Australia and California in its commitment to deploying the world’s first electric car networks.
Better Place has also unveiled the prototype electric car, based on the Nissan Rouge crossover SUV, which is sold in Europe and Israel as the Qashqai. The first prototypes will probably arrive in Israel early next year for testing.
Governor Lingle said, “Today’s announcement is a significant move towards our state gaining independence from foreign oil. This public-private partnership is exactly the type of investment we have been working on as we continue to carry out our Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI), moving toward the goal of 70% clean energy for the State of Hawaii. It highlights the importance we place on finding innovative ways to attract investments in energy technology."
The arrival of Better Place Hawaii furthers the progress of the HCEI, signed in January, which aims to meet the state’s energy needs from 70% clean energy by 2030, as well as fostering economic growth.
Hawaii has a wealth of renewable energy sources, including wind, waves, sun, and geothermal sources. There are already a number of renewable energy projects underway in the state.
Agassi said, "Hawaii, with its ready access to renewable energy resources like solar, wind, wave and geothermal, is the ideal location to serve as a blueprint for the rest of the US in terms of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, growing our renewable energy portfolio and creating an infrastructure that will stabilize our economy. Hawaii has made the commitment to breaking its dependence on foreign oil, and is leading the way in addressing the most important economic and energy issues facing us today.”
At the same time, Better Place has unveiled the final design of the recharging stations, which it will use worldwide. The company selected the winning design from dozens of applications. It will include a triangular pole one meter high and a proprietary socket in the upper part. The final design is due to be unveiled in Israel next week.
While Agassi and Better Place are gathering steam for the electric car project in distant places around the world, Daimler Group chocked up an important achievement for its own electric car program. The German carmaker yesterday signed a deal with Italian energy giant Enel SpA (Milan: ENEL) for the deployment of recharging infrastructures for testing the electric car at several locations across Italy.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 3, 2008
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