Israeli-backed electric car firm Project Better Place has debuted a demonstration version of its swappable-battery electric car, announcing it is on track to deliver several hundred of the vehicles as part of a pilot scheme next year with a full rollout set for 2010.
The company said the fully electric car - which was praised by AutoblogGreen as one of the "quickest vehicles to go from concept to a public, drivable prototype in automotive history" - will have a range of between 160km and 200km and will go from zero to 60 miles per hour in eight seconds.
Shai Agassi, founder and chief executive of Project Better Place, told Reuters that he expects that the Renault-Nissan alliance, which has developed the battery and car, will invest $500m to $1bn in the project over the next three years as it scales up production of the vehicle.
Meanwhile the project, which has raised $200m in venture backing, is to begin work on nationwide recharging networks in Israel and Denmark from later this year.
The two networks are expected to feature hundreds of thousands of charging points at offices and homes, and hundreds of battery swap stations where drivers will be able to swap-in fully charged lithium ion batteries in the same amount of time it takes to fill a petrol tank.
Agassi added that the Danish network would be powered using wind energy, while the Israeli network would draw energy from new solar farms.
Utility reported to have developed fast charging technology capable of delivering 40Km of motoring on a five-minute charge 12 Aug 2008
Electric charging infrastructure to be in place by 2012 21 Nov 2008IBM to join project to make one in 10 Danish cars electric 25 Feb 2009
Sarkozy guarantees €400m in state backing for joint EDF-Renault electric car recharging network 13 Oct 2008
Green energy firm claims Wind Car will be ready to hit the road by the end of next month 12 Jan 2009
Survey of public sector IT managers reveals deep concern over ability to deliver on carbon-neutral targets 03 Jul 2009
Fresh funding will provide new wave energy research equipment and support research 03 Jul 2009
EPA hints it could soon raise efficiency bar for routers, modems and storage systems 03 Jul 2009
More news
From record-breaking solar panels to the International Renewable Energy Agency's new home, we round up the top stories from the past week 03 Jul 2009
Well, I hope they got a no win, no fee deal. I don't like being cynical (it's more of a congenital thing)... 03 Jul 2009
Recycling waste heat is nothing new, so why has the computer industry not kept up? 01 Jul 2009 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
