I wonder who got fleeced:
"Pioneering electric car maker will be liquidated" by Josef Federman | Associated Press, May 27, 2013
JERUSALEM — It was an audacious idea that came to symbolize Israel’s self-described status as ‘‘Start-Up Nation,’’ a company that believed it could replace most gasoline-powered cars with electric vehicles and reduce the world’s reliance on oil — and all within a few years.
But it all came crashing down.
I'll bet they are feeling that way about a lot of things these days. It explains their behavior.
The company, Better Place, started out as a source of pride and a symbol of Israel’s status as a global high-tech power, but it suffered from a local brand of hubris and overreach.
They seem to have those qualities and characteristics, yeah.
On Sunday, it announced plans to liquidate after burning through almost a billion dollars and failing to sell its silent fleet of French-made sedans to a skeptical public.
‘‘This is a very sad day for all of us. We stand by the original vision as formulated by Shai Agassi of creating a green alternative that would lessen our dependence on highly polluting transportation technologies,’’ the company said. ‘‘Unfortunately, the path to realizing that vision was difficult, complex and littered with obstacles, not all of which we were able to overcome.’’
It capped a stunning fall from grace for Better Place and its founder Agassi, a former high-tech whiz kid who sought to change the world by building a revolutionary network of battery-swapping stations.
Not really.
See: China Post as Easy as A to 123
I'm not $tunned at all.
Agassi, 45, believed that in an era of global warming and rising oil prices, environmentally friendly electric cars could be the wave of the future, if only a way could be found to overcome the limited range of their batteries.
Better Place offered an elegant solution. The vast majority of travelers who commute short distances could plug in their cars at home or work each day to keep their batteries recharged. For longer distances, customers could stop at the swapping stations, remove their used battery, and replace it with a fully charged one in a matter of minutes.
I'm sick of the car-$hare promotion, sorry.
Agassi’s native Israel was chosen as the company’s main laboratory, and a network of several dozen stations was installed, offering travelers nationwide coverage.
Israel was a particularly ideal testing ground, thanks to high fuel prices, a supportive government, its relatively small size, and dense population centers. The cars were expected to appeal to Israel’s tech-savvy population, and the ability to weaken the political clout of its oil-rich enemies was an added plus.
The project won the support of President Shimon Peres and received generous financial incentives from the Israeli government and an endorsement from former President Bill Clinton.
Agassi, a former top executive at software maker SAP, became a celebrity chief executive. He was a central character in ‘‘Start-Up Nation,’’ a best-selling book about Israel’s high-tech industry, was named to Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2009, and became a fixture at international conferences such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
In roughly five years, Better Place raised some $850 million from investors like General Electric Co., HSBC Holdings PLC, and the European Investment Bank.
So the criminal HSBC, the tax-subsidized GE, and the European banks, were the ones that saw their money burned through?
The whole thing is a criminal enterpri$e, isn't it?
Israel Corp., controlled by billionaire Idan Ofer, was the largest shareholder. Agassi persuaded the French automaker Renault to make a customized electric version of its Fluence sedan.
Agassi promised to put 5,000 cars on Israel’s roads by the end of 2011 and predicted a majority of cars sold in Israel would be electric by 2016.
‘‘The end of the oil era will not come because we ran out of oil — it will come become we don’t want to use oil anymore to drive,’’ Agassi told the Associated Press in 2011. ‘‘I can guarantee you that we will finish the need for oil as an energy source for cars before we run out of oil in the ground.’’
The numbers never panned out. Only about 1,000 Better Place cars are on the roads, and the company ran into trouble with investors.
Uh-oh.
Last October, Agassi was forced to step down, and the company never gained its footing. Reached by the AP on Sunday, Agassi declined to comment.
Better Place claimed to be the first nationwide network of battery-swapping stations. Other countries, such as Germany, have public networks of charging stations, while in other places, travelers typically recharge their vehicles at home.
For the most part, electric cars have not enjoyed their expected success anywhere. The battery alone in an electric car can cost as much as a new gasoline-powered car, and electric vehicles are not selling nearly as fast as once projected.
Once again, another agenda-pu$hing program falls flat on its face -- but $ome people made out on it.
General Motors expected to sell 60,000 Chevy Volts globally last year, but sold just half that many.
Still making record profits.
Sales of Nissan’s all-electric Leaf grew 22 percent around the world last year to 26,000, short of Nissan’s projected 50 percent growth.
--more--"
Just rolled to a $top.
