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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>Plan for electric car network</HEADLINE><!-- Insert Article Content --><!-- Article Details --></STRONG>
<UL class=articleDetails>
<LI><FONT size=2>Mex Cooper </FONT>
<LI><FONT size=2>October 23, 2008 </FONT></LI></UL>
<DIV class="featurePic-wide cfix"><FONT size=2><IMG
alt="Charging points ... how the electric car network might look."
src="http://images.theage.com.au/2008/10/23/242404/st_electric-420x0.jpg"
width=420> </FONT>
<P><SMALL>Charging points ... how the electric car network might look.
</SMALL></P></DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>Australia will become the third country in the world to have an
electric car network in a bid to run the country's 15 million cars on batteries
powered by green energy under a </FONT><A
href="http://www.betterplace.com/press-room/press-releases-detail/better-place-partners-with-agl-and-macquarie-to-build-ev-infrastructure-in-/"
target=_blank><FONT color=#004990 size=2>plan announced today</FONT></A><FONT
size=2>.</FONT></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT size=2>- Battery stations proposed<BR>- Charging network
planned<BR>- Green energy push</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT size=2>In a deal unveiled in Melbourne, international company Better
Place will team up with AGL Energy and Macquarie Capital Group to set up a
network of "charging spots" and "battery exchange stations" to power electric
vehicles in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Better Place aims to roll out electric car networks that allow
zero emission vehicles to run on clean energy grids to reduce the planet's
reliance on oil.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Earlier this year, Denmark and Israel undertook to establish the
world's first electric car networks.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Better Place chief executive officer Shai Agassi said he hoped
Australia would prove that the company's model for electric cars could work
anywhere.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Under the plan, charging spots, to top up batteries, would be
located in places where cars park, including home garages, shopping centres and
office carparks.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>The charging spots, which would look like parking meters, would
provide cables to connect batteries to a green energy grid, for which AGL Energy
will provide power from renewable sources including hydro and wind.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>On the outskirts of city centres and on freeways, "battery
switching stations" would exist for trips longer than 161 kilometres.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>A driver would pull up to a switching station and replace the
car's battery before continuing on their journey, similar to filling up the tank
at a petrol station, according to Mr Agassi.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Mr Agassi said the first step was to build the infrastructure
while the company was dealing with car manufacturers to produce the battery-run
cars.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>"You can't sell cell phones before you have the towers," he
said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Victorian Minister for Environment, Climate Change and
Innovation Gavin Jennings today backed the ambitious plan.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>"If it could work here it could basically work anywhere," Mr
Jennings said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>In a partnership announced today AGL Energy would provide power
from wind, hydro and other renewable sources for the network while investment
bank heavyweight Macquarie Capital Group will help raise a billion dollars to
build it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Mr Agassi said it was hoped the infrastructure project to
initially establish the network would be in place by 2011 and the first battery
cars on the road in Australia a year later.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Australia has the seventh largest per capita car ownership in
the world, more than either the United States or Britain.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Mr Agassi said a reliance on oil was responsible for the demise
of the environment and the global economy.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>"We are investing in Australia's economy and adding jobs while
helping the country take a generational leap forward toward oil independence,"
Mr Agassi
said.</FONT></P><!-- Insert story tools --><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>