Want a free electric car you can charge up for less than the cost of gas? That’s what could happen if Better Place, an electric vehicles services provider, gets its way to redefine the way we buy, maintain, and fuel our cars. Here’s Better Place’s idea, as WIRED magazine describes it:

Drivers could plug in anywhere, anytime, and would subscribe to a specific plan—unlimited miles, a maximum number of miles each month, or pay as you go—all for less than the equivalent cost for gas. They’d buy their car from the operator, who would offer steep discounts, perhaps even give the cars away. The profit would come from selling electricity—the minutes.

Drivers would either plug in to a charging spot if they’re gonna be parked for a while — or quickly swap out an empty battery for a full one if they’re in a rush. The exact details of what the plans would look like are still up in the air, but Better Place is quickly striking deals all over the world in its quest to replace gas guzzlers with clean electric vehicles, and gas stations with an electric battery-replacement and charging grid.

That electric optimism got Better Place’s Israeli founder and CEO Shai Agassi named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2009. While the company’s headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Israel was the first country to partner with Better Place — and now has the first plugged in parking lot at Cinema City mall in Pi-Glilot.

Last week, I got to visit that station to see how it all worked — and to take a ride in an all-electric Renault! The charge stations basically look like short posts, which you can park in front of and plug in using a simple cord. The electric Renault’s a smooth ride with a lot of power — The car, according to WIRED, is set to be on the Israeli market by 2011 and will be able to “go from 0 to 60 in a respectable 7.5 seconds.”

The Renault likely won’t be Better Place’s only option; the company’s in talks with a number of car companies. TIME reports that Agassi’s goal’s that no more gas-powered cars will be sold in Israel come 2015. In addition to Israel, Better Place has cut deals to roll out in California and Hawaii, as well as Denmark, Australia, and Canada.

In Cali, the rollout will start in the Bay Area, with infrastructure deployment starting next year and electric cars scheduled to hit the mass market in 2012. When do you think we’ll see the end of gas-powered cars in the U.S.?

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