France Moves One Step Closer to Mobility Operator Model
Today, France took an important step toward the inevitable electrification of the automobile with the announcement of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to invest in the development of a sustainable transportation infrastructure for the country. President Sarkozy declared, “Freedom and mobility can meet ecology,” and challenged industry to develop the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles. Better Place will look to partner with government leaders, auto manufacturers, utility companies and others to meet this challenge and develop a pan-European electric vehicle network.
France is well-suited for the development of an electric vehicle network. According to the Council of Automotive Industry Professionals, there are 37 million automobiles on the road in France. Of those, more than 30 million are for private use, but only 603 are electric. By extending its feebate policy, deploying zero emissions public car fleets, and investing in R&D to improve battery technology, France can substantially reduce its carbon footprint without adding substantial costs.
In late June, President Sarkozy visited Israel to experience the Better Place solution first hand. During his visit, Sarkozy previewed a Better Place EV, accompanied by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Better Place Founder and CEO Shai Agassi. Messrs. Peres, Sarkozy and Agassi spoke about the incredible progress achieved in Israel, where wide-scale deployment of EVs will take place in 2011.
France joins other leading countries including Israel and Denmark as it moves toward embracing fuel alternatives and building an electric vehicle infrastructure. Recently, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both called for the mass production of EVs. As this week’s Paris Motor Show illustrated, the switch from the pump to the plug is inevitable. Better Place supports France’s progress and encourages other countries and automobile manufacturers to move toward zero emission vehicles to reduce oil dependence.
France’s race to become the first G8 country to adopt a sustainable mobility operator further validates that the Better Place model is a scalable solution that can work in any country. As more countries in the G8 and around the world move to electric transportation, Better Place will work with auto manufacturers and utility companies to promote open, global standards.
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