Better Place To Create First Oil Free State In Israel

With the support of Israel's government, Better Place is proposing a radical solution to the country's petrol problems and aiming to make the country the first to rid itself of dependence on oil for transportation.

1 minute read

September 19, 2010, 9:00 AM PDT

By George Haugh


The man behind Better Place is Shai Agassi. "He conceived the idea at a workshop session for young leaders organized by the World Economic Forum, then outlined his vision for battery-swapping electric cars at a 2007 presentation at Washington's Brookings Institution, in which he claimed to have devised a way to run a country without oil." This riveted the attention of Israeli President Shimon Peres, who remains a key backer of the company and has described Agassi as "a brilliant man".

"Renault, whose CEO Carlos Ghosn is betting his company's future on electric cars, gave Agassi's business crucial support by promising to supply 100,000 electric Fluences by 2016 to Israel and Denmark – where Better Place is also installing a nationwide network. To put this in perspective, there are just a few thousand electric cars now on the road in north America and Europe"

Friday, September 17, 2010 in The Financial Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

People walking up and down stairs in New York City subway station.

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving

Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

April 18 - Scientific American

White public transit bus with bike on front bike rack in Nashville, Tennessee.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan

Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

April 18 - Bloomberg CityLab

An engineer controlling a quality of water ,aerated activated sludge tank at a waste water treatment plant.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding

The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.

April 18 - Smart Cities Dive