Better Place Expects EVs to Be Cheaper

Recently propelled into the spotlight by both its alliance with French manufacturer Renault and the development of the "one minute battery switch" system, EV solution provider Better Place now says it hopes electric vehicles will eventually be cheaper than their gasoline-powered counterparts. Of course, the EVs in question are the ones the company plans on building with Renault.

"Renault has not set prices yet. But the e-car will be 3,000 to 5,000 euros ($4,400 to $7,350) cheaper than the model with a gasoline engine," Shai Agassi, Better Place CEO told Auto Motor und Sport. "Governments give incentives for electronic vehicles, that's how we can sell the car at cheaper prices,"

The car to be built by the two is the Fluence EZ, a vehicle powered by an electric motor that develops 95 horsepower and 226 Nm of torque, equipped with a lithium-ion battery that ensures a range of 160 km.

The first markets to get the Fluence EZ are Israel and Denmark. The plan set in place by the two companies call for the selling of no less than 100.000 vehicles for both countries by 2016. Pricing, together with the appropriate infrastructure, will be essential for that goal to be reached.

For the Fluence EZ, customers will only pay for the usage of the car. Better Place will charge 250 euros a month if customers drive up to 30,000 km annually, about the same amount as for the regular car.

Such a price will make the company break even by late 2012. Revenues are expected to be generated from selling mileage to drivers.