GreenRoad raises $10M from Al Gore's Generation Investment Management

GreenRoad, which is developing technologies to encourage safe and fuel-efficient driving behavior, announced today that it has raised $10 million in financing from Generation Investment Management, the investment firm co-founded in 2004 by Al Gore.

GreenRoad will use the proceeds of this financing to accelerate the deployment of its GreenRoad 360 service among existing and new customers.

GreenRoad 360, the Company's proprietary technology-based service, provides drivers and fleet managers with real-time, comprehensive and preventative feedback, analysis, reporting and coaching on drivers’ abilities, maneuvers and patterns.

According to GreenRoad, driving behavior is the largest single contributor to driving safety and fuel efficiency and costs the US and Europe over $500 billion dollars per year. A typical GreenRoad customer sees up to a 50% reduction in crash costs and up to a 10% reduction in fuel consumption within the first year. As a result, GreenRoad delivers an innovative solution that saves lives, saves fleets money in top vehicle expense categories (fuel, crash, wear & tear, insurance) and provides a cost-effective way to reduce emissions.

“We are very excited to welcome Generation, whose investment philosophy and leadership in sustainability is a perfect fit with GreenRoad,” said Dan Steere, CEO of GreenRoad. “At GreenRoad, our job is to make our roads safer and greener and we look forward to working with Generation in leading the way to cleaner, safer and more cost-efficient transportation.”

GreenRoad is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, with sales offices throughout the U.S. and UK and an R&D Center in Or Yehuda, Israel, which has 90 employees. The company was founded in 2003 by Chief of Safety Hod Fleishman and CTO Ofer Raz.

GreenRoad has raised $48 million to date, including the present financing round, from Generation Investment Management and existing investors DAG Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Virgin Green Fund, Amadeus Capital and Balderton Capital.

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GreenRoad raises $15m from DAG Ventures and existing investors

GreenRoad, which is developing technologies to encourage safe and fuel-efficient driving behavior, announced today that it has raised $15 million in growth funding.

DAG Ventures, a venture capital investment partnership, led the round with participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital, Virgin Green Fund, Amadeus Capital and Balderton Capital.

GreenRoad also announced that Nick Pianim, managing director at DAG Ventures, was appointed to the company’s board of directors.

“We are very proud to have earned the confidence of DAG Ventures, as well as our existing institutional investors,” said Dan Steere, CEO of GreenRoad. “This investment of capital will enable GreenRoad to accelerate its expansion with fleet customers and partners.”

“We were encouraged by the company’s successive quarters of revenue growth, despite the current economic climate,” said Pianim. “GreenRoad’s ability to cut crash costs up to 50 percent and generate fuel savings of up to 10 percent has broad appeal to insurers and enterprise fleets across several industries. The GreenRoad Service presents a scalable approach to improving safety and fuel economy that resonates with commercial fleets looking to mitigate risk, offset volatile insurance and fuel costs and impact their bottom line immediately.”

“GreenRoad has a track record of delivering results and we are excited to continue investing in a company that is successfully responding to the global challenge of unsafe and inefficient driving,” said Elie Wurtman, general partner at Benchmark Capital and Chairman of GreenRoad’s Board of Directors.

GreenRoad is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, with sales offices throughout the U.S. and UK and an R&D Center in Or Yehuda, Israel. The company was founded in 2003 by Hod Fleishman and Ofer Raz.

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Better Place unveils battery switch technology in Japan

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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Better Place applauds Hawaii's electric car legislation

Hawai'i will require large parking lots to reserve spaces for electric cars and to provide recharging capacity if a bill passed by the state's Legislature is signed into law.

The measure would take Hawai'i one step closer to developing a viable electric-vehicle market, supporters say.

"We think it's a great step forward for Hawai'i," said Pete Cooper, spokesman for Better Place Hawaii, which is seeking to create a $1 billion statewide charging network for such cars.

The Legislature gave Better Place's initiative a boost this week when it approved a bill authorizing the issuance of up to $45 million in special-purpose revenue bonds for the company's planned network.

Better Place signed an agreement with Hawaiian Electric Co. in December 2008 to make such service possible as early as 2011, and the initiative has the backing of Gov. Linda Lingle. Better Place told legislators it wants to develop a system to support more than 10,000 electric vehicles in Hawai'i by 2014, according to a report in the Honolulu Advertiser.

Better Place has raised more than $300 million and is partnering with utilities and governments to install its electric vehicle infrastructure in Israel, Denmark, Australia, Portugal, Ontario, Hawaii, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Better Place's primary R&D center is in Israel. Shai Agassi, Better Place's Founder and CEO, was named to the Time 100 in April 2009.

The electric-vehicle bill was among a handful of adopted measures that environmentalists applauded yesterday as the Legislature wrapped up its session.

One bill would increase the tax on a barrel of oil by $1 to help the state explore alternative energy and protect local agriculture. Another bill would require public utilities to produce 25 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020 and 40 percent by 2040.

The electric-vehicle bill would require that any parking lot with at least 100 public stalls be required to set aside 1 percent of the total spaces for electric cars by Dec. 31, 2011. The requirement would increase to 2 percent when at least 5,000 electric vehicles are registered in the state.

The bill also mandates that at least one recharging mechanism be made available in the parking lot.

The bills now go to Gov. Lingle for her review.

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ETV Motors raises $12M Series A round from Quercus Trust and 21Ventures

ETV Motors Ltd., a Herzliya, Israel-based start-up developing innovative electric vehicle propulsion technology, has announced its Series A investment round. The round was led by Quercus Trust of Newport Beach, California, with New York-based 21Ventures co-investing.

The $12 million milestone-driven investment will, according to the company, enable ETV Motors to move rapidly ahead with a multi-year research and development program in which it is partnering with universities and development organizations.

ETV Motors also revealed details about its development of enabling technologies for hybrid range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs). The company’s activity is focused on a novel, high-efficiency, dual-power micro-turbine and a proprietary high voltage lithium-ion battery. Integration of these optimized components will result in an innovative electric vehicle propulsion platform.



"We believe that REEVs are the optimal approach," said Dror Ben David, CEO of ETV Motors. "Our micro-turbine on-board charger and 4.7V lithium-ion cathode chemistry will facilitate the coming generations of environmentally-friendly, cost-effective, light-weight and safe electric vehicles."

"There are huge opportunities for disruptive, enabling technologies in the automotive field" said David Anthony, Managing Partner at 21Ventures. 'The approach of the ETV Motors team is based on innovative science, together with a sound vision of the future of electric vehicles. At 21Ventures, we see this as a game-changing approach, and we are pleased to be working with the company."

21Ventures' primary geographic focus is Israel, where over half of the funds investment capital has been deployed to date. 21Ventures currently manages more than $250 million worth of investments in 25 companies in Israel and the United States. More than half of 21Ventures’ investments are in clean energy companies.

Quercus Trust, funded by multimillionaire David Gelbaum, has quietly become one of the most active investors in the global cleantech industry. According to Greentech Media, David Gelbaum and Quercus Trust have made at least 47 cleantech investments. Five of Gelbaum's cleantech investments, in cooperation with 21Ventures, are in Israeli startups: 3GSolar, BioPetroClean, ETV Motors, TechnoSpin Wind, and Variable Wind.

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Better Place partners with 19 Israeli companies

Better Place announced that it has signed cooperation agreements with 19 Israeli companies to test the suitability of its electric vehicles for these companies fleets.

In this first stage of Better Place's plant to build a nationwide infrastructure for electric vehicles, Better Place will design charge spots for the companies' electric cars and install them at the companies' parking lots and employees' homes. It will also work with the companies' managers and employees in the design and deployment of the infrastructure in order to optimize and customize them to the needs of each company.



Moshe Kaplinsky, CEO of Better Place Israel, said, "Leading Israeli companies understand the strategic importance of meeting one of the greatest challenges now facing us: our dependence on oil and its effect on our economy, environment, and security. "

Better Place CEO Shai Agassi added, "We are today seeing the certification that there is real market demand for electric cars that will use Better Place's grid. We expect demand to grow as Israeli companies join in the vision, as well as in other countries, which together represent a potential global market of 50 million cars. We see today the tip of the iceberg of global demand."

The participating companies are from the hi-tech, pharmaceuticals, finance and manufacturing sectors. They include Israel Corp, which has invested over $100 million in Better Place, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Pelephone Communications Ltd., Partner Communications Ltd., Matrix IT Ltd., Direct Insurance - Financial Investments Ltd., Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Netafim Ltd., Keter Plastics Ltd., Orbotech Ltd., juice maker Jafora Tabori Ltd., Manpower Israel Ltd., SQlink Ltd., Nike Israel Ltd., and Glasshouse Technologies Ltd.

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GreenRoad awarded contract for the world's largest teen driver technology-based safety program

GreenRoad Technologies, a leader in driver safety technologies, announced last week that Or Yarok, Israel’s largest road safety organization, is making GreenRoad’s Safety Center available to 5000 families with teen drivers. This follows Or Yarok’s two-year study of 400 drivers’ use of Safety Center to determine its long-term impact on safety.

By analyzing each young driver’s performance and continuously providing them with real-time coaching, GreenRoad Safety Center improves driver safety and fuel efficiency.

GreenRoad is backed by Benchmark Capital, Virgin Green Fund, Amadeus Capital Partners and Balderton Capital. Headquartered in California, the company's R&D office is located in Beit Dagan, Israel.

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Shai Agassi, Better Place, featured in Wired Magazine

Shai Agassi, the founder and CEO of Better Place, is on the cover of the most recent issue of Wired Magazine. The article, “Shai Agassi's Audacious Plan to Put Electric Cars on the Road,” is a must read for anyone interested in Shai Agassi, the origins of Better Place, and the politics and economics of electric vehicles.


Highlights include:

A Q&A with Israeli President Shimon Peres, who contends that Israel can be a global cleantech R&D center

A description of AutoOS, the Better Place operating system, and how it will transform the transportation grid. AuotOS will serve as an energy monitor, GPS unit, help center, and personal assistant, packed into an onboard PC that will also hold cellular and Wi-Fi chips.

Details of Agassi’s efforts, along with venture capitalist Michael Granoff, Better Place’s earliest investor and its head of oil independence policies, to lobby the U.S. government to create incentives for electric cars

An inside look at a Better Place meeting in Tel Aviv to determine the design of the company’s charge spots

A test drive of a Better Place prototype with the company’s chief engineers

News that Better Place is in discussions with Chery Automobile, the massive Chinese auto company, and is eyeing the Chinese market. (Israel Corp., which has invested $130 million in Better Place, has a joint venture with Chery Automobile, and Idan Ofer is Chairman of both Israel Corp. and Better Place.)

News that Better Place is raising $160 million to roll out the Electric Vehicle Recharge Operator in Denmark. (The company has already raised $200 million.)

Confirmation that Agassi has flown to Honolulu to meet with the Governor of Hawaii, which might become the first place in the U.S. to sign an agreement with Better Place.

Better Place names Israeli firm to oversee recharing infrastructure

In other news, Globes reports that Better Place has selected Massad Oz Management & Supervision Ltd. to manage the pilot recharging infrastructure deployment for the company's electric car venture. Massad Oz will set up the recharging infrastructure in Tel Aviv parking lots in the coming months.

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UK bus company to deploy GreenRoad Safety Center

GreenRoad Technologies, a world leader in driver safety technologies, and whose R&D center is located in Or Yehuda, Israel, recently announced that Metroline is the first UK bus company to deploy GreenRoad Safety Center in its fleet. The technology is installed in more than 100 buses based at its Perivale garage in West London.

GreenRoad Safety Center rates driving skills without invading the driver’s privacy. An in-vehicle sensor collects information on up to 120 different driving maneuvers. These are constantly analyzed to give the driver feedback about their driving and the areas that need improvement. Individual drivers receive instant feedback from a small display on the dashboard. The driver and the fleet manager have access to more detailed analysis of driving skills and recommendations for improvement through a password-protected web site.

The technology should help ensure a safer, smoother and more comfortable ride for Metroline's passengers, as well as lowering fuel consumption and carbon emissions. According to GreenRoad, its clients have reduced accidents by an average of 54%, lowered accident repair costs by an average of 49% and decreased fuel costs by an average of 7%.

GreenRoad is backed by Benchmark Capital, Virgin Green Fund, Amadeus Capital Partners and Balderton Capital.

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GreenRoad raises $17.5 million in Series C funding

GreenRoad raises $17.5 million in Series C funding

GreenRoad Technologies, a leader in driver safety technologies, today announced that Amadeus Capital Partners, a European technology investor, has joined Virgin Green Fund, Benchmark Capital, and Balderton Capital in providing C round financing of $17.5 million. The funding will be used to expand the company’s R&D, sales and marketing efforts. Richard Anton, Amadeus Partner, becomes the newest member of GreenRoad’s Board of Directors.

GreenRoad is headquartered in Silicon Valley and London, but its R&D center is in Or Yehuda, Israel. The company was founded by CTO Ofer Raz and Senior VP Hod Fleishman.

GreenRoad Safety Center, the company’s flagship product, addresses two important issues that are a major contributor to the overall cost of doing business these days - vehicle crashes and fuel economy. Aggressive driving behavior contributes to 95% of road accidents and leads to injuries and fatalities. Unsafe drivers also waste fuel and increase carbon emissions, as aggressively-driven vehicles burn 10-15% more fuel.

For more information about GreenRoad's technology and services, check out the company's web site.

The company is partnering with commercial fleets, insurance companies, and local governments in the US, EU and Israel, where the combined estimated market potential exceeds 77 million vehicles. Customers already include Amdocs, T-Mobile, and the UK Ministry of Defence.

Benchmark Capital and Balderton Capital have been investors in GreenRoad since 2006. Virgin Green Fund joined in January 2008.

Advising Amadeus on the funding was Israeli law firm Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein. GreenRoad was advised by Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg & Co.

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Traffilog develops solution to improve fuel efficiency

Traffilog develops solution to improve fuel efficiency

Traffilog, an Israeli start-up based in Rosh Ha'ayin, is developing a web-based solution to better administer fleets of cars and trucks. The company was recently profiled in articles in the Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz.

Traffilog's system features GPS and various sensors that interact with the vehicle's systems and monitor driving characteristics such as acceleration, braking, turns, engine revolutions per minute and oil pressure. The information is then reported back to a central server, and a fleet manager can determine whether vehicles are being driven safely and efficiently .

The company's "black boxes" were installed in 500 cars used by the Israel Defense Forces over the last 18 months. In response, drivers moderated their driving style and the result was an average saving of 14% in fuel consumption (280,000 liters of gas). Traffilog's system will now be installed in thousands more IDF vehicles in the coming months.

GreenRoad Technologies, another Israeli company developing a system to reduce accidents and improve fuel efficiency, raised $14.5 million from Benchmark Capital and Virgin Green Fund back in January 2008.

Project Better Place in talks with Mercedes, Hawaii, and San Francisco

Daimler, the parent of Mercedes-Benz, is in talks with Shai Agassi and Project Better Place regarding the company's plan to create a mass-market infrastructure for electric cars. Mercedes' CEO Dieter Zetsche revealed the talks in a newspaper interview published in Germany earlier today. Zetsche also said that Mercedes-Benz plans to manufacture a model that runs on electricity in 2010.

In January 2008, Better Place announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Renault-Nissan to build an electric recharge grid in Israel. Under the agreement, Better Place will build the electric recharge grid, and Renault-Nissan will provide the electric vehicles. Renault-Nissan apparently does not have an exclusive right to produce electric vehicles for Better Place, and it will be interesting to see what develops with Mercedes.

Hawaii and San Francisco up next?

I recently had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Ziva Patir, head of Better Place's international standardization efforts since her appointment was announced in April. Patir revealed that Better Place is near an agreement with the State of Hawaii. If the talks are successful, this would be another impressive accomplishment for Better Place, giving it a foothold the world's largest car market.

In an April appearance on a local radio show, Hawaii's Governor Linda Lingle said that the state was indeed in discussions with Project Better Place.

Furthermore, Earth2Tech reported in May that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom met with Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kaplinsky and Chairman Idan Ofer while in Israel. Newsom reportedly offered to work with the company to build an electric recharge grid in San Francisco.

In Better Place's October 2007 white paper, "The Future of Transportation", Shai Agassi stated that to set the right conditions for the creation of a massive electric recharge grid in the United States, the federal government will need to increase taxes on cars, based on carbon emissions, and tax fuel to bring the price up to roughly $4.50 a gallon.

Even without federal intervention, however, gas prices have now reached a statewide average of $4.31 in Hawaii and $4.60 in California. We may have already reached the point where the company's business model will work in certain niche markets -- transportation islands like Hawaii, and densely populated, highly-trafficed urban areas such as San Francisco.

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Developing Story: Shai Agassi to address Copenhagen Climate Council

The Project Better Place press team at Hill & Knowlton just confirmed that Shai Agassi will be speaking at the Copenhagen Climate Council press conference on Thursday, March 27, 2008.

I am told that the conference will be streaming live on projectbetterplace.com for those who would like to hear what he has to say. The webcast will stream live from 7:30-9:00 am ET (1:30-3:00 pm in Israel) and will be available on the site thereafter.

The press conference will, according to its organizers, involve the "presentation of a unique, international climate project created by two members of the Copenhagen Climate Council."

Featured speakers will include:

• Mr. Bendt Bendtsen, Vice Prime Minister & Minister for Economic and Business Affairs
• Mr. Anders Eldrup, CEO, DONG Energy
• Mr. Shai Agassi, CEO, Project Better Place
• Erik Rasmussen, Editor-in-chief and CEO, Monday Morning
• Tim Flannery, Writer and scientist
• Li Xiaolin, Chairwoman and CEO, China Power International Development
• Will Swope, Vice President, Intel Corporation

Project Better Place to launch pilot program in Denmark?

The Danish government will reportedly announce soon that it is bringing Shai Agassi's electric car venture, Project Better Place, to Denmark.

Initially, Denmark will probably launch a pilot program in Copenhagen and other locations to examine the feasibility of the project. It may also be possible to harness the country's wind power infrastructure for Project Better Place's electric car recharge grid.

This according to an article today in "Globes".

Shai Agassi, the Founder and CEO of Project Better Place, is apparently in Denmark on March 26-27 as a member of the Copenhagen Climate Council. This group of world leaders in business, science, and public policy is developing a set of "activities and initiatives that can build support by international business for a new climate treaty, the successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which will be negotiated at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009."

Agassi mentioned the possibility of a demonstration project in Denmark in an interesting essay on his vision for the future of transportation, which was published last month.

According to Agassi, although it is unlikely that the necessary conditions for deployment of a massive electric recharge grid in the United States will be created in next 18 months, "in the mid to long term there is a very strong possibility that with an understanding of the potential stakes, and successful demonstration projects in other countries, such as Israel or Denmark, the US government will spring to action."

In January, Better Place announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Renault-Nissan to build the world's first Electric Recharge Grid Operator (ERGO) model for clean transportation in Israel. In March, the company established Israel as its primary research and development center to help develop the technology roadmap for mass deployment of electric vehicles.

Project Better Place appoints Israel CEO, declares Israel as primary R&D center

Project Better Place, in a new press release, named Major General Moshe Kaplinsky as CEO of Better Place Israel, where he will lead the world’s first build out of an electric recharge grid network infrastructure for electric vehicles. Better Place also established Tel Aviv as its primary research and development center to help develop the technology roadmap for mass deployment of electric vehicles.

“I am thrilled that Moshe Kaplinsky has accepted the position as CEO of Better Place Israel,” said Shai Agassi, CEO, Better Place. “I’m equally thrilled that Israel will be our primary base for technology innovation due to its engineering prowess. I see enormous strength in our ability to work across borders and tap into great talent pools in the US, Israel and elsewhere as we expand our global footprint. This group will architect the blueprint for others to follow.”

As part of the news, Better Place also named three partners:

• strategic design firm NewDealDesign of San Francisco will develop the industrial design for the charging stations and other consumer touch points for the grid; and
• Israel-based Aran Research and Development Ltd. and Nekuda DM Ltd. will develop and install the electric vehicle recharging stations in Israel.

“With the partners announced today, we will be sharply focused on executing against the vision set forth in January to move Israel off of oil within ten years,” said Kaplinsky. “This is the first step toward implementation of our operational plan for Better Place Israel.”

In January, Better Place announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Renault-Nissan to build the world's first Electric Recharge Grid Operator (ERGO) model for clean transportation in Israel

Before joining Better Place Israel, Kaplinsky most recently served as deputy chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Kaplinsky is a graduate of the advanced field officers course in the United States, has a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business from Bar Ilan University and a Master's of Business Administration degree with honors from Tel Aviv University. He will report to Agassi.

Better Place Israel is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Project Better Place.

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.

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.

Renault CEO to arrive for Israeli electric car project dedication

Sources inform ''Globes'' that Renault president and CEO Carlos Ghosn is expected to come to Israel to attend the dedication ceremony for the Project Better Place electric car venture initiated by Shai Agassi and Israel Corp. The ceremony is scheduled for January 21 at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. Minister of Finance Ronnie Bar-On and business leaders are expected to attend, and possibly Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well.

The Renault Nissan Alliance of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. is expected to participate in the technical development of the electric car, at an estimated investment of $150-300 million. The electric car will not be manufactured in Israel, however.

Meanwhile, Project Better Place posted a video on YouTube to promote awareness of their plan to build an electric car infrastructure.

The Green Tax Committee yesterday recommended that the purchase tax on zero-emission cars - mainly electric cars - should be only 10%, compared with the 78% tax on regular cars. Zero-emission cars will be eligible for a NIS 400 tax break on the value use of company cars. The government also promised not to cut the purchase tax on gasoline and diesel cars below 60%, which will preserve a minimal margin on tax brackets.

The benefit, if the government approves it, will be valid through the end of 2014, on the assumption that this is enough protection for an emerging industry. The Green Tax Committee nevertheless recommended that if the market share for electric cars exceeds 20%, a revised benefits package should be submitted to the government to reflect the changed circumstances.

The Green Tax Committee also recommends taxing the electricity used to recharge the batteries of electric cars so that the tax rate per kilometer of travel will equal the excise on gasoline and diesel. The cabinet is expected to approve the recommendations at next Sunday's meeting.

Ofer Shipping to invest $30 mln in Agassi's electric car venture

Reuters reports that Israel's Ofer Shipping Holdings will invest $30 million in the Project Better Place electric car venture led by entrepreneur Shai Agassi, holding company Israel Corp. said on Thursday.

Ofer Shipping is owned by the Ofer family, which also controls Israel Corp. Israel Corp. earlier acquired a 33 percent stake in the electric car venture after agreeing to invest $100 million.

The total investment in the initial phase of the car venture will be $200 million, giving the Ofer family a majority stake in the venture.

Agassi in March resigned as head of software products at German software maker SAP to pursue interests in environmental policy and alternative energy resources.

Israel Corp. owns stakes in chemicals, energy, shipping and semiconductor firms.

Israel Cleantech Ventures invests in Citrine Renewable Energy

There are no details on co-investors or the size of the investment, and Citrine Renewable Energy does not have a web site. The Israel Cleantech Ventures web site, however, contains the following company description:

"Citrine Renewable Energy (CRE) develops systems that cost effectively convert the biogas generated by landfills, waste water treatment plants, and other sources of biological waste into high value natural gas, which can be used to power natural gas vehicles. In addition to dramatically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from landfills and sewage works, CRE's systems enable vehicles that use the fuel it produces to reduce harmful NOx emissions by 50% and particulate matter emissions by more than 70%. Truck and bus fleets powered by fuel produced by CRE can also benefit from significant fuel cost savings as compared to the cost of operating diesel engines."

Renault mulls Israel R&D center

Sources inform ''Globes'' that French carmaker Renault SA (Euronext:RNO) may establish an R&D center in Israel shortly. Company representatives recently met officials from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor to discuss the matter, but both parties declined to comment about it.

It is not known if these talks are related to the establishment of an R&D center affiliated with the electric car venture, Project Better Place, launched by CEO Shai Agassi. "Globes" reported that the cars will be based on the Renault Megane chassis.