"Better Place" to begin electric car sales this summer

The first Israeli company to develop fully battery-operated vehicles plans to sell electric cars developed by the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which typically have a range of around 100 miles
 
Better Place will begin selling electric cars in Israel this summer. Better Place plans to sell electric cars developed by the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which typically have a range of around 100 miles. Drivers would be promised four battery swapping stations along any route the length of that range, to enable ease-of-use of the cars.
 
Better Place is the first Israeli company to develop fully battery-operated vehicles and the charging infrastructure, offering motorists the possibility of owning their own home charging post. The first electric car to be sold to Israeli customers by Better Place is the Renault Fluence ZE. It will be followed by the Renault Zoe.
 
Israel is the first country in the world to install the cutting edge electric car network and will act as a pilot for a worldwide electric car grid. The company already has nine battery switching stations in different parts of the country, and expects to open close to 40 more by year's end, via a licensing deal with national petrol station operator Dor Alon.
 
The Dor Alon petrol station chain will install battery replacement points for the electric vehicles at all of its petrol stations. The sales center, at Glilot Junction, will be the company's flagship store, and will be built in a huge warehouse that was used previously to store fuel. The price of the cars has not yet been published, but Better Place is expected to reveal further details in May.
 
The company has pledged that the price of purchasing and using an electric car will be lower than current costs of buying and running a gasoline-fuelled car. In Israel there will also be a 10% purchase tax on electric vehicles, compared with 90% on regular cars.