Better Place granted electric car import license

13 Renault Fluences are due to arrive within two weeks to test battery recharging stations.

The Ministry of Transport has given electric car venture Better Place LLC a permit to import 13 Renault Fluence electric cars for testing. The Fluence meets strict EU 5 emissions standards.

The cars are due to arrive within two weeks. They will test the battery recharging stations which already exist at several sites, including at Better Place's visitors center at Pi Glilot outside Tel Aviv.

Importing the electric cars was made possible after Minister of Transport Israel Katz signed supervision directive on new goods and services, which include relaxations on new import permits for cars.

Ministry of Transport Motor Vehicles Department director said that, within a few days, the department would approve imports of the Fluence prototype for marketing in Israel in 2011, after the car meets Israeli standards.

The Israel Standards Institution is due to formulate the Israeli standards for the electric cars' recharging and service and maintenance systems in 2011.

Katz said that the ministry would continue to support projects that contribute to vehicle safety and to the environment. He said that more than 10,000 hybrid cars and 8,000 natural gas driven vehicles are currently in use in Israel.

Better Place was founded by Shai Agassi.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 14, 2010

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010

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