Electric car charging startup Better Place has launched its first program. The company, which advocates a 'battery swap'-based electric vehicle network, released its first wave of cars in Israel this week, in partnership with French automaker Renault.
The 100 all-electric Renault Fluence ZEs were delivered as the initial part of a phased rollout in Israel, which is the first country to see a public Better Place service introduced, although the system has been trialled with taxi drivers in Tokyo.
As of this week, users of the Fluence ZE in Israel will be able to call in at a swap station when their battery runs low on juice, waiting just a few minutes while the unit is swapped by a robot before being on their way again.
The catch to the system is that unlike conventional EVs such as the Nissan Leaf, drivers don't own the battery that comes with their car and need to pay a monthly rental fee to secure their swaps -- plus an amount for the charge that they use.
However, as batteries are widely considered the most expensive and least proven aspect of electric vehicle technology, this requirement doesn't appear to have put consumers off -- Renault has a reported 70,000 people on the waiting list for the Fluence ZE.
Denmark is believed to be the next location on the list, beginning operations within weeks, while Australia and China are also building swap station networks and the company is working on a wider Western European rollout.
Publié le 26.01.2012
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