Better Place Brings Fluence ZE EV to Israel

In brief: Battery charger and swapper Better Place has introduced the Renault Fluence ZE electric car to the Israeli market, along with pricing and service packaging.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: Fluence ZE EV
Manufacturer: Renault

The word

Better Place teamed with Renault to provide electric vehicles as part of Better Place's plans to sell battery charging, leasing and swapping services to alleviate the highest cost of an electric car: batteries.

The company, based in Israel, debuted its first operational battery swap station in Tel Aviv. They are now introducing the Renault Fluence ZE EV as the companion car for those who purchase services.

The vehicle will be sold for $34,865 (U.S.) base and will have service packages offered on top of that. These range in price by mileage with the 20,000 kilometer per year (12,400 miles) package at $309/month starting it out.

Better Place claims that this maintenance package would cut the average cost of the petroleum-fed family car maintenance budget by about 20%. The package is cheaper than current gasoline prices are in Israel for the same mileage at average MPG.

And so ...

Better Place is gambling that people will prefer to use a battery swap and maintenance station for charging rather than their own home charging units. The station convenience (swaps take about the same amount of time as fueling a petrol car) is the factor here.

Photo credits: Renault

This site follows the emergence, application and development of transportation innovation. Reference to manufacturers, makes and models, and other automotive-related businesses are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement by FutureCars.com.