Better Place today unveiled the prototype of its battery switch technology in Yokohama, Japan. The system is a key component of Better Place's planned infrastructure of electric car exchange stations and charge spots.
Better Place showcased its battery switch platform using a modified NISSAN electric crossover SUV to demonstrate how to switch a depleted battery for a fully charged one.
“Today marks a major milestone for the automotive industry as well as for Better Place,” said Shai Agassi, Founder and CEO, Better Place, in a company press release. “For nearly a century, the automotive industry has been inextricably tied to oil. Today, we’re demonstrating a new path forward where the future of transportation and energy is driven by our desire for a clean planet and a robust economic recovery fueled by investments in clean technology, and one in which the well-being of the automotive industry is intrinsically coupled with the well-being of the environment.”
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is partnering with Better Place in Israel to enable zero-emissions mobility throughout the country by 2011. The realization of zero-emissions mobility in Israel will require the deployment of battery switch stations as well as a steady and reliable supply of vehicles adapted to accept the switchable-battery layout required by the Better Place business model.
“Japan has always been at the forefront of automotive engineering and design and maintains a strong sense of environmentalism,” said Kiyotaka Fujii, President of Better Place Japan and Head of Business Development for Asia Pacific. “The launch of Japan’s electric vehicle study is an important milestone in achieving a zero-emission transportation society, and our successful demonstration of charging vehicles with both fixed and switchable batteries is an important contribution towards moving the entire industry forward.”
Moshe Kaplinsky, CEO of Better Place Israel, told Globes: "This is a great achievement for Better Place and for Israel. The technology, which was developed in Israel, was presented in the heart of Japan's automobile industry. The development and demonstration of the battery replacement technology brings us significantly closer to completing the company's solution for developing a full recharging infrastructure for electric cars."
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Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, March 10, 2008
Project Better Place update
Project Better Place has been quietly making news in recent weeks following the excitement surrounding its January press conference in Israel. Shai Agassi, however, predicts a deal between the company and a national government "within 100 days”. Perhaps we should be bracing for another major announcement from Agassi and Better Place.
Shai Agassi profiled in the Economist. Is Japan next?
Shai Agassi was interviewed by the Economist for an article detailing the trend of executives switching from the computer industry to cleantech companies. He is featured alongside Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures. The article discloses that "having bonded successfully with Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert in Israel, Mr Agassi confidently predicts another deal between Better Place and a national government 'within 100 days'."
Might Japan be the next country to sign an agreement with Project Better Place? Shai Agassi was in Japan at the end of February, alongside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and spoke at a business forum intended to build contacts between Israeli and Japanese executives.
Two Israeli partners selected to implement electric recharge grid
Electric car venture Project Better Place has picked two Israeli companies to develop and install car recharging stations in Israel: Aran Research and Development Ltd. and Nekuda DM Ltd.
Aran R&D and Nekuda DM are industrial engineering design companies with experience in product development and electromechanical design. The car recharging infrastructure will involve 500,000 recharging points to be built across the country in the coming years.
"Globes" reports that the Office of the Chief Scientist has published a call for proposals to collaborate with Renault SA under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor's cooperation program with multinationals. Companies deemed suitable to collaborate with Renault will receive Chief Scientist grants covering up to half the R&D budget for an approved project. Renault will provide matching aid, as well as technological advice, applications tests, use of the company's laboratories, and other services.
The call for proposals is targeting companies that are developing technologies and applications for improving the performance of electric car engines, energy efficient car air conditioners, rapid battery recharging and replacement systems, longer life batteries, and other fields.
Shai Agassi profiled in the Economist. Is Japan next?
Shai Agassi was interviewed by the Economist for an article detailing the trend of executives switching from the computer industry to cleantech companies. He is featured alongside Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures. The article discloses that "having bonded successfully with Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert in Israel, Mr Agassi confidently predicts another deal between Better Place and a national government 'within 100 days'."
Might Japan be the next country to sign an agreement with Project Better Place? Shai Agassi was in Japan at the end of February, alongside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and spoke at a business forum intended to build contacts between Israeli and Japanese executives.
Two Israeli partners selected to implement electric recharge grid
Electric car venture Project Better Place has picked two Israeli companies to develop and install car recharging stations in Israel: Aran Research and Development Ltd. and Nekuda DM Ltd.
Aran R&D and Nekuda DM are industrial engineering design companies with experience in product development and electromechanical design. The car recharging infrastructure will involve 500,000 recharging points to be built across the country in the coming years.
Project Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kapliski said, "Testing of the charging points will begin this year, and hundreds of stations are planned for installation during 2009.
Chief Scientist ready to pay electric car companies"Globes" reports that the Office of the Chief Scientist has published a call for proposals to collaborate with Renault SA under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor's cooperation program with multinationals. Companies deemed suitable to collaborate with Renault will receive Chief Scientist grants covering up to half the R&D budget for an approved project. Renault will provide matching aid, as well as technological advice, applications tests, use of the company's laboratories, and other services.
The call for proposals is targeting companies that are developing technologies and applications for improving the performance of electric car engines, energy efficient car air conditioners, rapid battery recharging and replacement systems, longer life batteries, and other fields.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
EER to build waste treatment plants around the world
According to Reuters and Globes, Environmental Energy Resources Ltd. (EER), an environmentally-friendly waste management company based in Ramat Gan, will set up Romania's first plasma waste treatment facility under a 25-year BOT (build, operate, transfer) project. The facility will cost $30 million.
"The company expects to treat some 30,000 tonnes of waste, and no less than 80 tonnes a day for about 150 euros per tonne," Moshe Stern, president at EER said. EER also said it had recently received multi-million dollar orders to build plants in China.
"We expect to make about $145 million a year from the four waste treatment plants," Stern said, noting that each plant had about a 25-year life cycle.
"Our project in China is much greater ... We intend to build around 800 small (medical waste treatment) plants at about $6 million a plant," Stern said, noting that the local development of plant parts and units cut down on costs.
EER has also created subsidiaries in two target markets, Japan and Korea, through which it is marketing its waste treatment technology.
In October 2007, EER raised $3.5 million in a private placement that valued the company at $130 million. It has already constructed a demonstration facility near Haifa.
EER's shareholders include Urdan Industries Ltd.; Shrem Fudim Technologies Ltd.; Makoto Takahashi's Tokyo Financial Group; the Canada-Israel Opportunity Fund; Leon Recanati, chairman of GlenRock Israel; and Shlomo Nehama, former chairman of Bank Hapoalim.
"The company expects to treat some 30,000 tonnes of waste, and no less than 80 tonnes a day for about 150 euros per tonne," Moshe Stern, president at EER said. EER also said it had recently received multi-million dollar orders to build plants in China.
The company has a working protocol with Samstar, a state-owned company in China, according to which it will order the planning and construction of medical waste and radioactive waste plants from EER.
EER uses molten gas at temperatures between 1,400 and 7,000 degrees Celsius in a process called plasma gasification melting (PGM) to melt down municipal, household, medical and low-level radioactive waste.
The system was developed by Israeli and Russian scientists at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Unsorted municipal and solid waste is placed in a reactor. Metal particles are separated by magnets and the remaining waste is sent to containers where it is broken down by high heat.
The organic material is converted into gases, and the remaining waste turns into black gravel that can be used in infrastructure projects. The system can also handle medical and radioactive waste, thereby providing a waste treatment solution for nuclear power stations.
In May 2007, Reuters reported that EER planned to invest up to $60 million in four waste treatment facilities to dispose of low-level radioactive waste at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, to treat some 500,000 tonnes of waste."We expect to make about $145 million a year from the four waste treatment plants," Stern said, noting that each plant had about a 25-year life cycle.
"Our project in China is much greater ... We intend to build around 800 small (medical waste treatment) plants at about $6 million a plant," Stern said, noting that the local development of plant parts and units cut down on costs.
EER has also created subsidiaries in two target markets, Japan and Korea, through which it is marketing its waste treatment technology.
In October 2007, EER raised $3.5 million in a private placement that valued the company at $130 million. It has already constructed a demonstration facility near Haifa.
EER's shareholders include Urdan Industries Ltd.; Shrem Fudim Technologies Ltd.; Makoto Takahashi's Tokyo Financial Group; the Canada-Israel Opportunity Fund; Leon Recanati, chairman of GlenRock Israel; and Shlomo Nehama, former chairman of Bank Hapoalim.
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