JERUSALEM (AP) — It was an audacious idea that came to symbolize Israel’s self-described status as “Start-Up Nation,” a company that believed it could replace most gasoline-powered cars with electric vehicles and reduce the world’s reliance on oil — and all within a few years.
But it all came crashing down.
The company, Better Place, started out as a source of pride and a symbol of Israel’s status as a global high-tech power, but it suffered from a local brand of hubris and overreach. On Sunday, it announced plans to liquidate after burning through almost a billion dollars and failing to sell its silent fleet of French-made sedans to a skeptical public.
“This is a very sad day for all of us. We stand by the original vision as formulated by Shai Agassi of creating a green alternative that would lessen our dependence on highly polluting transportation technologies,” the company said. “Unfortunately, the path to realizing that vision was difficult, complex and littered with obstacles, not all of which we were able to overcome.”
…
Agassi, 45, believed that in an era of global warming and rising oil prices, environmentally friendly electric cars could be the wave of the future, if only a way could be found to overcome the limited range of their batteries.
Full story here: http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2013/05/trailblazing-israeli-electric-car-company-close
Nick Kermode says:
May 28, 2013 at 2:54 pm
“Well if they had a government like ours the pisses away $$ on subsidiary’s on companies like TSLA they would be still in business. What is it, $45,000 per TSLA vehicle sold.
Many multiple millionaires at TALA now thank to tax payer $$$..”
You might be interested in…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-23/tesla-pays-back-u-s-early-as-musk-aims-for-affordability.html
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No, Nick, I really wouldn’t be that interested in more propaganda. From the article, “Settling the debt earned taxpayers about $26 million, the Energy Department said.” BS. Not counting the $68million in free ZEV credits given to TSLA by the state of CA or the tax credits provided by various other states, TSLA gets a subsidy of $7500 per vehicle in the form of a federal tax credit for buyers of its product. Multiplied by 5000 vehicles that nets over $35million in one quarter, so, no, the taxpayer did NOT make a $26million profit on the loan. We just ended up paying TSLA a little less to borrow our money–yes you read that right. Oh, and lest you claim that TSLA demand is inelastic to pricing and the $7500 is not a subsidy to TSLA, then realize that TSLA can always charge $7500 more per vehicle than it otherwise would and therefore is always the beneficiary.
The best thing that can be said now is that the company is funded by private capital which is as it always should have been. The stock is in an extreme short squeeze right now. Eventually that will abate and there will be lots of money lost in the ride down.
Eventually electric cars will rule. How many more hundreds of years will we be able to get hydrocarbons from the Earth? It’s too bad that Telsa did not show us how to make his electric car that ran without a battery.
The company didn’t have the necessary range! 🙂
At the present state of the evolution of electric powered cars (which includes hybrids), the enthusiasm which I perceive represents the sort of thinking which took us about a million years to go from cutting one edge on a rock to two (setting off the Acheulean tool period, i.e our success as a species at single variable processing.
OK, so you want to wean yourself from fossil fuels. No problemo, you just drive to however many battery swapping stations and change your standardized battery for another one. No worries! Even assuming these battery swapping/charging stations are even half as ubiquitous as gas stations. Costco recently pulled the proverbial plug on its rollout of charging stations, as have several other corporate entities.Ugg! Not good kemosabe……..
Except that it’s roll-your-own in the wild-wild-west of automotive battery design. I just had to change the battery in my pickup truck, and they gave me the exact correct sized one, but the poles were reversed, I had to take it back for the “r” (poles reversed) version!
The nice thing about standards is that there are so darned many to choose from!
And then there is the little matter of just what state the battery you are getting as a replacement is. One with a few charges on its clock, or one with a few too many or a few too many rapid charges.
No problemo. Call AAA, they might even advertise to replace your battery somewhere deep in say Nevada with the correct one quicksmart! Meaning in a few hours at best.
I have been keeping close tabs on some truly remarkable advancements in charge acceptance tomography based on nano-holes which rapidly direct charge to where it can be stored quickly. In some reported cases, a cellphone battery can be fully recharged in as little as seconds to minutes.
Truly revolutionary in electron storage technology that has advanced slower than any other aspect of portable electrical energy in something like a century.
Work out the kinks in that, figure how to scale it up, standardize battery designs around it, and you will have something. Until we get there, this is nothing more than a silly-buggers game.
But, but, what about Tesla? Their recently reported profits came from all of us schmucks that contribute nanny-bucks to state and federal programs for redistribution of wealth.
Bizarre. Simply bizarre.
Dave Wendt says:
May 28, 2013 at 3:29 pm
In re the Jaguar “station wagon”. In Britain they’re generally known as “shooting brakes”. I don’t think Jaguar ever made one themselves, but a number of custom coachbuilders offered conversions on various models over the years. They are rare even in Britain and much more so in the U.S. There have been rumors that Jag may offer a Sportbrake version of their new XF model.
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1073437_2013-jaguar-xf-sportbrake-leaked-ahead-of-geneva-motor-show
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Ding! Ding! Ding! That was it! I saw a white one. Gorgeous car. Thank you, sir.
And many thanks to others above who weighed in on the Jaguar wagons. I now know they exist and are exceedingly rare, yet the Chevy Volt is tied with the Jag wagon in my neck of the Mid-West, USA. I’ll probably spot a unicorn before I see my next Volt ;o)
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How to boost sales of EVs? I suppose next year we’ll find out that, under ObamaCare, we’ll not only have government mandated insurance, but we’ll be required to buy a Volt when we are forced to sign up for insurance. (sarc? Hard to say at this point. No one knows everything that’s in that bill.)
Put aside their rather ill conceived business model, you guys might be interested in where some of their money seems to have gone…
http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=147189
How about Zev2go?
Don’t kid yourself folks. The money came from the USA. Look at Israel’s annual budget and look at how much the USA gives them in “aid”. Somewhere between 33% and 50%. Do the math and tell me that they could afford anything without it much less a boondoggle like this. My bet is a few people got really rich and the USA taxpayers got shafted … again … still … whatever.
Who were they going to sell to, these guys? This is the creeping political reality over there.
http://forward.com/articles/177405/the-creeping-jewish-fundamentalism-in-our-midst/?p=all
They only sold about 225,000 cars, trucks, and SUVs to the total population last year (Israel Autos Report 2013, Business Monitor International). Out of a combined pop. of 10 million, that’s not a lot.
Dave Wendt says:
May 28, 2013 at 3:29 pm
“In re the Jaguar “station wagon”. In Britain they’re generally known as “shooting brakes””
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The common term for a UK version of a station wagon is “estate car” although everyone would know what “station wagon” meant from US TV and films.
Technically a “shooting brake” has 3 doors, not 5 and is a bit sportier but most people would just use the generic term “hatchback” these days.
It seems that the motoring industry might still use the term “shooting brake” but I don’t think that most British people under about 40 would know what the term meant. I think I last heard it in the wild in about the 1960s. I’m surprised to hear it now outside of a film starring Kenneth More.
the mileage of electric cars is not much different than the 1890s. We have not learnrd much in 120 years.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2013/0528/Will-Better-Place-bankruptcy-affect-Renault-electric-cars
Will Better Place bankruptcy affect Renault electric cars?
The Better Place “setback” shouldn’t have much effect on Renault’s EV sales. Looking at the numbers.
The Solyndra “setback” shouldn’t have had much effect on (name of subsequently bankrupt solar company)’s sales.
The (name of defunct wind turbine making/selling company or corporate division) “setback” shouldn’t have much effect on (name of remaining company/division)’s sales.
They shouldn’t have much of an effect by sales volume numbers. They do have tremendous effect on public perception of the embodied concept. Perhaps someday the marketing experts of the “green” economy will acknowledge it.
No wonder they failed. Being unable to park inside the marked parking bay would earn them a hefty fine everytime they stop to “top up” the battery. 😉
I admire Israel, they’ve developed some amazing technology in drip irrigation, hydroponics and industrial biotechnology amongst others. Forget the EV, go for natural gas fueled vehicles:
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/energy-ticker/2013/05/22/noble-finds-more-natural-gas-offshore-israel/
In the US during high peeks of power usage the grid is already on the verge of blackouts. How pray tell are we supposed to charge millions of electric cars under this condition; we can’t! First and foremost we need to produce high concentrations of power before we can even think of electric cars.
Less than 50 people have died of radiation poisoning from the nuclear power plant Chernobyl disaster and that was the initial fire fighters while countless thousands have died in the oil and gas industry since then.. Chernobyl is now teaming with heathy wildlife and the commonwealth is switching its power generation to weak solar panels and windmills. I smell a rat.
DirkH says:
May 28, 2013 at 2:29 pm
“Europeans and probably Israelis as well tend to not have bumper stickers …”
If you only knew. Israelis are hooked on stickers, not just on bumpers. The saying goes that some cars are only held together by the stickers on them 🙂
If driving profile is right and you can afford to replace your car every 4 – 8 years an electric car makes perfect sense. But until battery technology improves dramatically electric cars will remain a specialty niche. Nothing wrong with them but not the common casual vehicle everyone needs around town.
It is a crying shame but physics is physics and if you commute or have to even semi regularly drive long distances an electric car isn’t the right match. If you do relatively short distances and can either afford to do the full battery replacements or trade the old car in when battery replacement time comes around they can be an excellent match.
The Renault Kangoo [KANGOO?!?] — “The same, but different.” LAUGH-OUT-LOUD — who in the WORLD would want to buy this vehicle??? Is this a real product?!!
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Wallace+and+Gromit+car&view=detail&mid=8B6A208D62FE84A31C7E8B6A208D62FE84A31C7E&first=21&FORM=NVPFVR
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Yeah, Bernd, I noticed that, too, probably ran out of juice, thus, lost steering as entered the parking space. (eye roll) Those spaces are so tiny, they look like motorcycle parking spaces to me!
TRM says:
May 28, 2013 at 7:59 pm
“Don’t kid yourself folks. The money came from the USA”
No it did not.
The US aid to Israel nowadays is below 3% of the budget and 95% of it is spent on purchases of US products. So the bottom line is the money stays in the US.
The only reason Israel does not stop it is political reasons – a lot of Americans make a lot of money out of it.
There are louder and louder voices in Israel calling for stopping this nonsense.
This was expected from the beginning of the project: It was the new Luft Gesheft of our time.
Even in a tiny country like Israel you can not rely on a car that has a maximum range of 120 Km and is bound to special stop pits for “refueling”.
It was a classic “green” hallucination bubble that exploded.
In my (tiny) town there is one car like that. It is nice and all but it stops here. I cannot imagine having to calculate every minute of the ride where is the next battery exchange pit (there is one 15 km from us – that is a 30km round trip! a quarter of the battery capacity…).
And to all those who worry about energy independence of Israel – We have massive resources of natural gas which will last for decades.
The time of the Arab oil is closing to an end.
The Americans know it best.
Okay. Which of the following two vehicles would YOU prefer to own?
1) The Kangoo
2) Chevy Pickup
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chevy+trucks&view=detail&mid=41A197483CA03D4A64A841A197483CA03D4A64A8&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR
Eyal Porat
If I lived in Israel, I would want a super-reliable, preferably armor-plated, vehicle (with an auxiliary gas tank!)!! And a loaded shotgun within easy reach. Those creepy M—lm ter-o–sts are EVERYWHERE. Do be careful, Mr. Porat. Keep safe, you and your family.
A Gentile Who Loves the Jews,
Janice
In another thread I mentioned I had to get a new lawnmower. Well, there’s a lesson there too. I bought a $200 mower, on sale from $250. It’s electric, since my yards together are too small to justify the hassle of storing gas.
Right beside it at the store was a cordless version. It’s $600. As far as I can tell it’s the exact same lawnmower other than the battery pack. Oh, and a replacement pack is $150. Considering how short the lawn mowing season is in Calgary I’m betting that battery will need to be replaced every year or two.
I really don’t see a stretch: lawnmowers, cars… same thing. Pay more for a dubious benefit? Yeah, no thanks.
Janice Moore says:
May 28, 2013 at 10:20 pm
Hello Janice, Thanks for the kind words and worry, but I am afraid you have some misconceptions about Israel: It is as safe and quiet place as the average country.
If any, the Europeans should be the ones to worry now ;-).
From CodeTech on May 28, 2013 at 10:51 pm:
Wow, do you Canucks just have a really weird exchange rate, or do those Canadian Greens keep the prices high so your wallet feels how great the sacrifice was you made to Save The Planet?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DZJYJO/
Earthwise 60120 20-Inch 24-Volt Cordless Electric Lawn Mower
List Price: $349.00
Price: $244.00 & FREE Shipping.
You Save: $105.00 (30%)
…
The easy-in, easy-out battery provides enough power to handle almost any lawn in a single charge.
Keep the battery inside, it’ll last longer. Replacement is $114, although by a comment it’s actually two batteries you place into the removable battery carrier. Likely you can get cheaper matching batteries at a local electronics shop. Which might be needed as it doesn’t ship outside the US. The mower only goes to the 48 contiguous US states.
But the similar WORX WG782 14-Inch 24-Volt Cordless Lawn Mower for $249 ships to select non-US countries, its battery is $85. Etc.
You have choices.