There is an image of Israel that many are familiar with, but that hasn't been discussed on Kivunim until this point. That image is the one of Intel, Nokia, Google, etc. The tech sector. While independently it's unacceptable to depict a country by its silicone valley alone, when exploring the many faces of Israel, such a side deserves recognition. So we spent our day of "focus beyond" at the Tel Aviv University and Project Better Place.
Pictures of Project Better Place
At TAU we visited in the engineering laboratories, and stepped in on technologies of aerodynamics and bioengineering. I didn't really understand the language but the models and slides displayed various processes of experimentation and development.
Project Better Place had a more spectacular presentation.
The concept of this place was to do what so many other car companies appeared to be doing: taking the world off of oil. Hybrids were a start, but don't really change much compared to the products here. Better Place has created completely electric cars. They're charged by electric pumps that people will have at their homes, as well as self-switching battery stations. The cars are silent, have wifi and computer systems in them, and run more than 100 miles on each charge. The plan is to release them to the Israeli public over the next year or so, and build a network of charging stations around the country. The cars will be leased with plans similar to cellphone plans.
Better yet, I got to drive one! Yes, my first time at the wheel since the summer, and my first outside of the east coast, and I didn't use a drop of gas. Yipee!
After the drive, we visited a model battery station. Take a look at the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment