Better Placetoday launched its European visitors center, together with Renault, and the programs that it will offer subscribers in Denmark. The price of the electric car itself - the Renault Fluence - will be €27,500 (NIS 138,000). The price, which is tax exempt, is considered a bargain for Danes who are normally required to pay 180% purchase tax and VAT on new cars.

In Israel where these taxes amount to only 60%, the price of the electric vehicle should be lower - probably about NIS 125,000.

In the first phase of operations, Better Place will market the car with five subscription package options at fixed prices based on the number of kilometers driven.

Subscribers that drive more than 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) a year will pay €400 (NIS 2,000) a month, while subscribers who drive less than 20,000 kilometers a year (12,500 miles) will pay €199-249 a month.

These packages include full servicing, unlimited recharging and exchange of batteries at Better Place's national network, GPS, and 24/7 towing and roadside assistance. Subscribers will also pay a one-time €1,340 fee for a recharging unit to be installed in their home.

Sources in the vehicle sector in Israel say that prices are likely to be different here, where the focus is on company fleets and the average annual distance traveled is 30,000 kilometers. These sources believe the average monthly subscription fee will be about NIS 1,000 in Israel.

Better Place is expected to publish its Israeli prices in the second half of 2011. The company is planning leasing options together with GE Capital, the financing arm of General Electric, which is expected to finance the purchase of batteries against a lien on the revenue from subscribers.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 3, 2011

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