Nissan-Renault to develop e-cars for Israel
The partnership of Japanese automobile company Nissan Motor Co. and French automaker Renault, along with the software entrepreneur Shai Agassi, is aiming to produce an electric car line for the motorists of Israel that is set to come out in 2011.
Coming up with a new line of electric vehicles for Israel is one of the many steps to be taken by Nissan and Renault in order to strengthen and to widen their market across the globe. These companies will be taking care of the vehicles and auto parts (Renault and Nissan Parts) to use for the electric vehicles. Agassi’s Project Better Place, which is a company that focuses on green technology in vehicles, on the other hand, is going to manage the construction and operation of the recharging networks for the electric cars.
Why develop electric cars for Israel? According to Carlos Ghosn, who is the chief executive officer of both Nissan and Renault, Israel is a relatively small country. It only measures around 21,000 square kilometers (or 8,100 square miles). Such land size is actually similar to that of New Jersey’s.
“In Israel, where 90 percent of the people drive less than 70 kilometers a day, a car with 100-kilometer range would satisfy most of the population’s transportation needs,” said Ghosn.
At present, emerging electric cars usually costs higher than the regular automobiles, such as gasoline-powered vehicles. The Nissan-Renault CEO, however, pointed that motorists in Israel do not need to worry about the price as the cost will just be around a regular vehicle. Moreover, maintenance of the electric car is not going to be expensive, according to Nissan-Renault.
The Lithium-ion batteries, which are actually staples for laptops and mobile phones, are going to be installed for these electric cars. This NEC Corporation and Nissan-developed battery will function as the main power source of these futuristic vehicles. A total of 500, 000 recharging point will be scattered all over Israel for convenience of the owners. Supplementing the lithium-ion battery is a 1.6-liter engine. According to the companies developing the electric car, these vehicles guarantee no emissions of any sort.
“For first time, all the conditions necessary for electric vehicles to be successfully mass-marketed will be brought together in a partnership between Renault, Nissan and Project Better Place,” said Renault, Nissan, and Project Better Place.
Aside from distributing these electric cars in Israel, CEO Ghosn said that these vehicles are also set to reach other countries. For now, however, Nissan-Renault, along with Project Better Place, focuses on Israel with a target of 10,000 to 20, 000 units every year.
Source: Bloomberg.