New Man In Charge

INFRASTRUCTURE:SHAI AGASSI wants to save the planet by replacing our cars with electric versions. The Israeli-American hi-tech millionaire believes he'll make a canny profit in the process.

With the support of Israeli president Shimon Peres, Agassi, founder and chief executive of Better Place, chose Israel as his pilot country.

Renault-Nissan's first electric cars will be in Israeli showrooms by 2011, and later that year Israel will boast the first up-and-running national battery-recharging network.

The idea is simple - Israelis who purchase the new electric vehicle (EV) will have two ways to recharge their lithium-ion, suitcase-sized batteries. The average Israeli driver travels 30 miles on a weekday and the batteries, which last for 100-120 miles, can be filled up at a recharging point while the car is parked.

Four hundred charging points have been installed across Israel, each capable of recharging two vehicles simultaneously. Better Place aims to have 100,000in place by 2011. It takes about two hours to recharge a battery.

The second option, for those planning a long journey, is to visit one of the 125 battery switch stations across the country. A robot reaches under the chassis, takes out the empty battery and installs a new one in under two minutes.

The model works best in densely populated areas. In Israel, drivers will not be able to drive 25 miles without passing a recharging point, and each vehicle will have built-in GPS software directing the driver to the nearest point.

Better Place welcomed last month's deal between the Irish Government, Renault-Nissan and ESB, paving the way for battery-powered vehicles, seeing itself as ideally positioned to set up the Irish grid.

Tal Agassi, Shai's 33-year-old younger brother, heads the company's global infrastructure development. Speaking to The Irish Times at Better Place's Tel Aviv office, he explains that Ireland is ideally suited for EVs.

"We chose Israel because the country is essentially an island - owners never drive their cars across the border," Agassi explains. "To go into Ireland and roll out the infrastructure [ would be] relatively simple."

Owners will not own the car batteries, but will sign a monthly contract to charge their vehicles. Agassi's company will make its profits by purchasing electricity in bulk and re-selling it as battery miles. Highlighting the eco-friendly aspect, Better Place will give preference to electricity suppliers who use clean energy.

Denmark was the first European state to adopt the system, and is expected to be the first country after Israel to operate a national recharge grid. Twenty per cent of electricity used in Denmark will be generated by wind power. The Danish government went a step further, removing all taxes on EV cars while maintaining 180 per cent tax on petrol cars.

With cars and trucks responsible for about a quarter of the world's CO2 emissions, converting to zero-emission vehicles could have a dramatic impact.

After initially raising $200 million from private investors, Better Place turned to the major car companies. Renault-Nissan was the first to plan large-scale production of EVs and aims for up to 15 per cent of its vehicles to be electric by 2015. The company's chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, chose not to follow the hybrid route taken by his competitors.

"Hybrids are like mermaids," Mr Ghosn expl-ains. "When you want a fish you get a woman, and when you want a woman you get a fish."

In addition to Israel and Denmark, Better Place has signed deals to operate in Hawaii, San Francisco Bay and Australia's eastern coast, taking advantage of significant tax brea-ks from authorities desperate to cut emissions.

The Israeli government saw an opportunity to end its dependence on oil and at the same time establish itself as a world leader in cutting-edge technology. It hopes Better Place will do for Israel what Nokia did for Finland.

"The greatest problem of our time is oil. On the one hand it pollutes; on the other, it's financing terror," Peres said.

Last year, former prime minister Ehud Ol-mert set the very ambitious target for Israel to end its dependency on oil by 2020. The government promised to reduce the tax on EVs to only 10 per cent of purchase price (regular cars in Israel are taxed at 62 per cent).

Better Place has already signed agreements in Israel with some 20 leading companies to change their car fleets to EVs. Shai, who was already a multi-millionaire from a number of successful hi-tech ventures, wouldn't have launched Better Place if he didn't think there was money to be made - a lot of money.

According to Better Place, it costs eight US cents a mile to run a car today using an electric battery, and it believes this figure can be brought down to an incredibly low 2 cents a mile by 2020, based on expected improvements in the battery life cycle. This compares to the current average of about 22 cent a mile for cars running on petrol in Ireland.

Better Place, Renault-Nissan and Israel are all taking a big risk - there is no guarantee that car owners will want to kick the petrol habit.

But Tal is confident that the future is green. "If someone offers me an alternative that's as affordable and as convenient as petrol cars, and at the same time we can end our dependence on oil, I will take it."