Better Place is in talks with the Ministry of Defense to add electric cars to the defense establishment fleet. Sources inform ''Globes'' that progress has been made in talks for a pilot of a few dozen prototype Renault Fluence concept cars, which the French carmaker has designed for Better Place.
The electric cards are equipped with rapid replacement batteries that have a 160-kilometer range. Renault SA (Euronext: RNO) is expected to produce a limited number of several hundred Fluence's beginning late this year for trials in Israel and Denmark.
Better Place's talks with the Ministry of Defense include the possibility of setting up a prototype battery replacement facility at the ministry in its compound in Tel Aviv. The electric cars will reportedly be included in the Ministry of Defense's service fleet, which operates several hundred cars, and in the IDF fleet, which numbers 8,000 cars.
Procurement of electric cars for the IDF could be complicated because the fleet is leased, and the cars are owned by external leasing companies under a multi-year contract. One possibility, which has a better chance, is to use the electric cars for internal transport at IDF bases.
Better Place CEO Moshe Kaplinski, a former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, told "Globes" two years ago, "It is highly logical to include electric cars in the IDF fleet."
Better Place confirmed the talks, saying, "The company is working with the Ministry of Defense in the same way as with large companies, in order to examine the suitability of the electric car solution to their needs. The company does not disclose details about the status of its activity."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 11, 2009
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