First Electric Car Charging Spot in Israel

Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kaplinksy at the first electric parking lot in Pi-Glilot, Israel. Photo: Better Place

The end of 2008 is turning out to be a productive one for Better Place: The California-based electric vehicle charging point service station company unveiled its first plugged in parking lots, as well as the charging spot design that will be used in deployments around the world. The company recently announced plans to deploy its electric car technology in the San Francisco Bay Area statewide. Better Place is working with partners to build its first standards-based networks in Israel, Denmark, Australia, California and Hawaii. Better Place will activate networks on a country-by-country basis with initial deployments beginning in 2010. Read Press Release

Mercedes-Benz Formula Zero Racer Concept Car

The podracing in StarWars I was tempered by the grace of the Greenbird’s land yacht design then you might have something that Mercede-Benz designers are saying in 2025 would be called Formula Zero.

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Chevrolet Volt Plug-In Hybrid to use LG Chem Batteries

Many of us have been watching with interset the race between LG Chem and A123 Systems to become the supplier of the GM Volt’s battery system. After all, energy storage is currently the most crucial puzzle left to solve to make battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids viable. We need batteries that store as much power as possible, in a package as light as possible, with a useful life that is as long as possible, and of course, all that as cheaply as possible. That’s a tall order.

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Of Interest

London’s Popular G-Wiz i Electric Vehicle Gets an Upgrade

It seems the folks at UK-based electric vehicle retailer GoinGreen had good reason for their recent pre-Christmas clear out. They are now taking orders for the new, improved version of their popular Indian-made G-Wiz commuter vehicle. According to the company’s website, the G-Wiz i features a whole raft of improvements, including roomier cabin layout, an extended range of up to 48 miles per charge (previously 40), and an increased top speed of 50mph (previously 45).

Importantly, given the fact …