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Renault Fluence EV to be assembled in Turkey

Renault this morning made the production announcement for the fourth and final of its upcoming electric vehicles the Fluence sedan (see also: Twizy EV, Zoe Z.E., and Kangoo Z.E.). The battery-powered version of the compact sedan will be rolling off the same line as the gas and diesel versions at Renault's factory in Bursa, Turkey. The Fluence will be the model that Renault offers in Israel and Denmark in conjunction with Better Place. Along with charging from 220 V or 400 V outlets, the Fluence will feature the so-called QuickDrop ... Read more →

Better Place and DSB to pilot electric car sharing for train travelers Domenick Yoney

Will trains and cars become the voyaging version of peanut butter and chocolate? Perhaps. Better Place is partnering with DSB, Denmark's largest rail service provider, to offer an electric car ...

REPORT: Tesla Model S was designed with battery swaps in mind Sebastian Blanco

Recently-resigned Tesla Motors engineering chief Michael Donoughe revealed an interesting tidbit of information on his way out the door. Speaking to Green Car Advisor, Donoughe said that the ...

Better Place thinks electric cars deserve a software-driven safety net Sebastian Blanco

While Better Place is happy to tout their successful battery swaps, the company knows that potential electric vehicle drivers can be worried about range. Current EV drivers and advocates have all ...

How can we "refuel" electric vehicles today and tomorrow? Sam Abuelsamid

Among the many claimed advantages of electric vehicles are the ability to "refuel" your vehicles at home, never visiting a gas station again. In principle, the only thing you need to "fuel" an EV ...

Frankfurt 2009: Renault goes Twizy (with Zoe and Fluence and Kangoo) 2 months ago on Autoblog Green

The more we see of Renault's all-electric line-up that is on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the more we want to hang out at company cocktail parties. Something delicious and potent must be on tap there. From the elegant and unexpected lines of the Zoe (above, note the recycle logo) to the ...

Better Place to trial battery-swapping taxis in Tokyo 2 months ago on Autoblog Green

When Better Place wanted to demonstrate how their battery switching station would operate they chose Yokohama Japan as the backdrop and now the land of the rising sun is returning some of that love. The electric vehicle infrastructure company has received an "award" to carry out a pilot project ...

Shai Agassi to Australian car industry: become the Saudi Arabia of plug-in cars 3 months ago on Autoblog Green

Better Place head Shai Agassi told the Australian car industry that it is looking at "certain extinction" unless it moves towards plug-in vehicles. Never one to let a good quote go by as he tours the world promiting EVs – he recently told the Chinese that the future of the electric car ...

Shai Agassi: Hope for the electric car rests on China's shoulders 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

"Our goal is not to build a car company," says Better Place CEO Shai Agassi, "Our goal is to end oil." That would be quite an accomplishment, and it's going to take cooperation between the automakers themselves, companies like Better Place that are building and developing an electric vehicle ...

Better Place finishes first 1,000 battery swaps without problems 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

While the full jury is still out on Better Place's battery swap idea, the first "juror" seems to have made up her mind. The company said last week that its automatic battery exchange stations have swapped out 1,000 batteries and vice president Jason Wolf told attendees at the Smart Grid ...

Thinking through the Better Place strategy: is it seriously flawed? 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

Last week, Better Place previewed for a wide audience, via a new video, their battery swapping system. The video has kicked off a good discussion over on Peak Oil Garage that we wanted to share with you. The biggest question raised, I think, is about the batteries that Better Place will use. As ...

VIDEO: Better Place battery swapper demonstrated 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

One minute, 13 seconds. That's how long it took for the whiz-bang battery switcher engineered by Better Place to remove a battery from the undercarriage of its Nissan demonstration SUV and replace it with another. That's faster than either the fastest fast charge or filling it up with regular. ...

Shai Agassi talks about Better Place, $20,000 EV, batteries extra 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

Shai Agassi has big ideas when it comes to electric cars. He wants to build networks of public charging outlets and battery swap stations. He also wants to sell electric cars with a battery subscription plan similar to cell phone calling plans. In an interview with CNET Agassi revealed that he wants ...

Project Better Place using AC Propulsion drivetrain, Renault Megane mules 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

CBS has posted a short video feature on Better Place and, while the overall information won't be new to any of our regular readers, there are a few things for the hardcore to look for. First, in the opening seconds, you can see the dashboard screen read "AC Propulsion." So, that pretty much ...

Better Place battery swapping plan comes under fire 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

Although many share the vision of ubiquitous infrastructure to support future fleets of electric vehicles, the concept of battery swapping, frequently championed by Better Place, doesn't seem to have the same appeal as the fast-charge station. In fact, in the past week, battery swapping has come ...

Better Place announces 19 "Vision Partners" (aka early buyers) in Israel 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

"Vision Partner" sure has a nice ring to it. So positive, so optimistic, and so perfect a name for Better Place's new partners in Israel. Better Place announced this week that it has agreements with 19 companies who want to support Better Place's plug-in vehicle/infrastructure project by being ...

Carlos Ghosn: We're testing the EV this year 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

Renault is betting big on electric cars, or at least that's the image they're out peddling everywhere. During a press conference this week in Paris, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that the French marque will begin testing pure electric cars this year. Specifically, he said that (translated from ...

Better Place CEO says he needs the Big Three 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

Need a quick update on Better Place? World Focus has a five-minute video that features interviews with founder Shai Agassi, video of the cars testing in Israel and skeptics like Forbes' Bruce Upbin, weighing in on the electric car startup. The clip says that Better Place promises they could ...

Better Place goes Canadian with Ontario electric car partnership 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

The electric car deal-making juggernaut that is Better Place is staking its claim on a new territory. BP representatives are in Ontario this morning and, along with Ontario Premier McGuinty, announced a new partnership to advance the cause of EVs - what they're calling a Car 2.0 model - in the ...

Better Place answers questions about home charging, Obama's interest 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

Over the weekend, we heard a story that the Obama Administration "may be adopting" the Better Place model of powering electric cars. We wanted to know more about what this means, exactly, and got the following from Better Place PR: Better Place has shared their model with a number of government ...

Obama green car update: working with Better Place? going pro-ethanol with Vilsak? 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

Two items of note from the incoming President. First, the Jerusalem Post has a minor hint that Barack Obama's transition team has got their collective eye on the work of Better Place. The paper writes that the new administration "may be adopting it," according to Better Place chairman Idan ...

Better Place: more partnerships in Japan; electric car parking lot opens in Israel 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

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 ...

Why is Better Place's Shai Agassi not being more straightforward with WaPo? 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

Shai Agassi wants to address the infrastructure side of the electric car problem. While electric cars can nominally be "fueled" by any electrical outlet, the fact is accessible outlets don't necessarily exist where most electric cars will be used in the near to mid-term. Batteries as they exist ...

Hawaii becomes a "Better Place" 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

It's hard to image a more beautiful place than Hawaii. But Shai Agassi and Linda Lingle want to make it a "Better Place." The volcanic archipelago is one of the most remote populated places on the planet, sitting out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. That means that almost anything except the ...

Better Place Ireland? 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

It's hard to keep up with all of the places that electric car promoters/builders Better Place (and their Renault and Nissan partners) are trying to do business, but we've got to keep trying. The latest potential target is Ireland, where the government announced a plan to develop an electric vehicle ...

Better Place to setup shop in San Francisco Bay area 12 months ago on Autoblog Green

This week in San Francisco, Better Place founder Shai Agassi and the mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland announced the launch of an electric vehicle charging system in the Bay Area. An investment of $1 billion will be needed to install a network of public charging stations throughout the ...

Michigan governor meets with Shai Agassi and Better Place in Israel 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Michigan's Governor, Jennifer Granholm, is currently on an overseas trip to try and boost Michigan's economy. It's a trip she's cut in half from its scheduled length because of the automaker bailout discussion here in America. Still, while she was in Israel, Granholm took a peek at the Better ...

Thinking about Better Place's free car strategy 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Better Place's Shai Agassi is all over the map, and I don't mean because his company is talking about unleashing electric cars in Australia, Israel, Denmark and other places. Back in October, he claimed that the Chevy Volt would be a "niche product." Whatever accuracy that statement has, it ...

Better Place to test A123 batteries in American car? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

A123 Systems may (repeat, may) have lost out on being the initial supplier of Chevy Volt batteries but that doesn't mean they are down and out. In fact, it appears that their lithium-iron-phosphate batteries will have energy storage duties for the electric cars of Better Place. Or at least some of ...

Better Place's Australia announcement goes live with Seesmic video conversation 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Starting right about now (1 pm Pacific time), the folks from Better Place will hop onto the Seesmis video conversation channel and talk about what's new with the Australia announcement. I'll be listening in and updating this post with any news, but if you want to join in yourself, set up and ...

Better Place moves to Australia 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

We'll, that didn't take long. The announcement from Better Place about the next country planned for the electric vehicle expansion is here and we're off to Australia. Better Place announced the deal with AGL Energy and Macquarie Capital Group today, and there is more information coming in a ...

What country will be the next Better Place? We find out this week 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Last week, Better Place CEO Shai Agassi gave a speech in San Francisco trying to sell his EV ideas. The Bay Area is one place that Agassi's battery-swapping electric vehicle company wants to make, well, better. So far, Israel and Denmark have officially signed up for the program, but SF can join ...

Shai Agassi totally into what France is doing with EVs 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Shai Agassi likes what he's hearing from French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy recently announced a plan to expand sustainable transportation infrastructure in France, including more money for electric vehicles. The founder of Project Better Place - and someone with an apparent inability to find ...

Better Place founder Agassi: Volt will be a "niche product" 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

By now many of us around these parts know who Shai Agassi is and what he wants to do. He wants to build a distribution infrastructure of swappable batteries to be used in electric cars with the ultimate goal of making EVs mainstream. The problem is that electric cars remain an expensive ...

Better Place all-electric Renault delayed? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Bad news for fans of the Better Place plan - maybe. According to a report on an Israeli business website, Renault executives at a conference in Geneva have said that the electric car bound for Israel, to be franchised by Shai Agassi's Better Place, will be delayed by a year. However, the website ...

Shai Agassi pitches $100 billion plan 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

No one could ever accuse Shai Agassi, the man behind electric-car infrastructure company Project Better Place, of not being ambitious. He has been all over the planet making deals with major car makers and various countries. His American discussions have been somewhat more modest though with a city ...

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