The electric car has lost its power as Better Place is now closing the business.
One of the biggest scientific and business investments of 2008 was the electric car of Better Place and Renault. The venture has collected up to $850 million funds from investors that were used to develop and sell electric vehicles. Charging stations were also built to replace gas stations.
The electric cars were planned to be sold $5,000 cheaper than gasoline cars available in the U.S. The drivers will be given a membership card that will work like a debit card to pay for the recharging fee in the charging stations and carwash services. The electric cars may reach up to 62 miles when fully charged and charging time may take around 38 to 45 minutes.
Six years later, Better Place filed liquidation in an Israeli court. The board of directors released a written statement published in the Associated Press website. Here is an excerpt:
"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. Unfortunately, the path to realizing that vision was difficult, complex and littered with obstacles, not all of which we were able to overcome."
To date, there is only around 1,500 electric cars still running in Israel and Denmark but it was also introduced to other countries such as Japan and the U.S. In the U.S, the electric cars were brought in Hawaii. Better Place chose these places for their initial launch because of its shorter roads and expensive gas prices.
Some of Better Place's investors such as Israel Corp., General Electric, UBS, HSBC and Morgan Stanley were also affected as the company has an existing deficit worth $561.5 million as of November 2012.
