Comments on: An economic Iron Dome Israel isn’t using

By: Gil Yashar

Gil Yashar — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:44:21 +0000

Technically, assembled in Turkey. French body, Israeli technology.

By: Brian John Thomas

Brian John Thomas — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:38:42 +0000

Better Place take care of the electricity: customers don't see or care about this raw cost as it's covered by their subscriptions. The cost of fuel being double the US, the slightly more expensive electricity isn't a big obstacle and Better Place will be buying in bulk eventually.

By: Brian John Thomas

Brian John Thomas — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:38:42 +0000

By: Josh Weixelbaum

Josh Weixelbaum — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 14:34:45 +0000

Jack Gottesman, regarding electricity – I wasn't saying my electric bill would rise. I was comparing the monthly cost of paying BP for KMs versus the regular cost of gassing up.

By: Sammy Magid

Sammy Magid — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 12:22:48 +0000

One thing to take into account with electric cars in Israel is the cost of electricity, which makes it difficult for Israelis to charge these cars in their homes at night (although in the USA it is not a problem. Too bad better place pulled out of that market).

By: Jack Gottesman

Jack Gottesman — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:16:41 +0000

Josh, – BP thought of these questions and answers them (and many more) on their website http://www.betterplace.com/faqs. Let me take a shot at these three for you – re electricity the answer is no. All electricity costs are billed strait to Better Place and your utility bill is not effected (you sign up for a fixed package at the beginning of your BP membership)
Re 'range anxiety' – it’s not an issue of better or worse than traditional gas, it’s just different. Think about it – you’re charging while at home and at work. Additionally, the car’s GPS system talks to you, let’s you know when you’re running low, how to get to the closest battery swap station and where the nearest charge spot is.
Lastly, Michael Lipkin is right, the company isn't going anywhere — sales are on the rise and investors just threw another 33 million into the project last week.

By: Joel Schreiber

Joel Schreiber — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:50:41 +0000

The government SHOULD NOT subsidize it all, but reduce the overall tax burden and free up the market.

By: Joel Schreiber

Joel Schreiber — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:49:09 +0000

People driving cars that run on petrol are already punished with a heavy gasoline tax. The government shouldn't be subsidizing any company at all. Don't you think that when petrol cars came on the market, the same challenges were faced (will there be gas stations in the countryside etc. )? If cars sold in Israel would drop in price thanks to freeing up the market and decreasing the sales tax, this would be beneficial to everybody.

By: David Paul Rose

David Paul Rose — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:49:49 +0000

Rob, one of the thinks that people don't understand is that Better Place has met the 'chicken and egg' challenge. Everyone who purchases an EV from Better Place receives a charge spot in their driveway at home, for most days we don't even need switching stations, therefore there is no need to build a lot of stations. My bill from the Israel Electric Company contains a refund for the electricity that I use and Better Place pays for. Think of it this way, say one of the gasoline companies would come to you and say, hey we want to put a gas pump and storage tank in your driveway, the tank would constantly be filled to the brim with gasoline, every evening when you came home from work, all you would have to do is stick the nozzle in the gas tank opening and the car will fill itself while you're sleeping. The next morning, in fact every morning you'd awaken to a filled gas tank without having to go anywhere. That's were I stand today, a full tank every morning, every day without having to find a filling station. When I decide to take a lengthy journey, (last week to/from the Galilee to Eilat), I put the data into the car's computer and "put the pedal to the metal" the computer does the rest. Sure, it would be nice to have a few more stations, one or two on the Coastal Highway, one by the Dead Sea, and maybe one in the Upper Galilee, but that's about it, because if you can charge at home, at work, and while shopping, you don't need "a lot of local switching stations". Without a lot of stations I've already driven over 36K km since April, and when there will be alot of EVs on the road, the time per switch will drop from 5 minutes to 3 and from 3 to one minute and current switching stations will be expanded to be double and butterfly lane stations to handle all of the cars. You are right, the government shouldn't subsidize Better Place, but make electric cars less expensive, the means you mentioned are wonderful, and even better than the currently planned "green tax" that would punish people for buying gasoline cars rather than rewarding those of us to bought clean cars.

By: Leslie Rose

Leslie Rose — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:24:52 +0000

Subsidise all electric cars by offering free charging. There are quite a few charging posts around Tel Aviv, but nowhere enough. At the moment home charging is the only real way to do it, or work charging stations in company car parks. The Better Place system is transient technology that is already out of date as new batery technology, electronic contollers come onto the market. Nissan have already increased their range for the leaf by 25% and harved the charging time. The price has been reduced by 20% too. Things are moving fast in this field. See Tesla for the way forward in multi-use platforms etc. The e-fluence is a converted gas car, too heavy, too complicated and not designed as an electric car, but converted when Better Place ordered a special, unique adaptation for themselves.

By: Rob Barasch

Rob Barasch — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:48:47 +0000

The change from gas to electric is a massive paradigm change and is exactly the type of policy decision governments should be involved in. Just look at what's happened to better place, with almost $1B invested they're still having a tough time getting off the ground for a number of reasons, but the main reasons are costs (it's not much cheaper than a regular car) and because there's the chicken and the egg problem: i.e. until there are a lot of local battery change stations people will be afraid to buy the car but BP can't build a lot of stations until the car's sold in sufficient numbers without additional massive investments and losses. I don't think the govt should subsidize BP but it should take steps to make electric cars (not just BP) significantly cheaper than regular cars and then make sure that those savings are passed on to consumers rather than the company (how about a VAT rebate which the purchaser gets directly from the government or a discount on the annual car license)

By: Rob Barasch

Rob Barasch — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:42:59 +0000

I believe the new leasing deals include a provision that you can return the car if Better Place goes under.

By: Joel Schreiber

Joel Schreiber — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:01:41 +0000

When the government picks winners and losers…
Hint: Solyndra

By: Judah Rosen

Judah Rosen — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:59:35 +0000

Hi Mila – you make a solid point.

Overall, I was referring to government's involvement in private enterprise. I was not suggesting government's could do no-good on their own (NASA is fully-funded by the US).

By: Mila Mi

Mila Mi — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:51:20 +0000

I know it's off on the tangent but I couldn't help mentioning that some greatest achievements of mankind are done by NASA which is funded by the government