Archive for the ‘Renault EV’ Category

We've mentioned Shai Agassi and his game-changing EV startup, Better Place, several times on TCC. Now comes word that he's brokered an intriguing  deal to install charging and battery-changing infrastructure across Denmark, and the Danish government has agreed to nix the 200% new car tax (yes, you read that correctly) for EVs that work on the system. Currently, the only vehicles slated for sale are made by Better Place's partner, Renault, but more may follow -- if Agassi and his persuasive pals in the energy sector can convince them to sign on. Of course, whether Danes will bite on the offer is another matter altogether. [NYTimes]

In America, we tend to think of Renault as that wacky French outfit responsible for the Le Car craze of the 1970s and 80s. But in fact, the company has been doing some very interesting work on the EV front, thanks largely to its partnership with Nissan. In that vein, Renault recently launched a website dedicated to "zero emission mobility" -- in other words, minimizing pollution while maintaining our ability to go anywhere we damn well please. No matter how you feel about EVs and the green movement, it's hard to argue with that, right? Here's a clip from the monthly magazine portion of the website, which includes a brief look at the "spa...

Better Place has never been afraid of thinking big. Heck, the company's basic premise -- that electric vehicles can be built with easily swappable batteries -- is one of the most outside-the-box ideas we've heard in a while. So it should come as no surprise that Better Place is now thinking even bigger: the EV startup plans to put 100,000 vehicles on the roadways by 2016.

Just a couple of months ago, that kind of statement would've been enough to make us ring up the men in little white coats, but given the circumstances, Better Place founder Shai Agassi may be on to something. For one, he's inked a deal with Renault to facilitate production...