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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The start was rocky. I got singled out at the airport check-in line and sent to a private room where a security person very politely took my backpack from me, save my cell phone, wallet, passport, boarding pass, and a copy of Lonely Planet’s guide to Israel & the Palestinian Territories.

“You’re already taking too much…” said the security person apologetically when I tried to take a second book with me. She reassured me I’d get my bag back at the airport gate — which I did, after a second security person swabbed my shoes and passport with a strange blue stick and ran the swab through a machine.

On the upside, everyone was really nice about the strict security measures — and I got to get on the plane first, presumably for my troubles –

After an uneventful 14-hour flight I’m now in Israel! I’m here with 3 other American journalists on a clean tech tour organized by the America-Israel Friendship League, self-described as a “non-sectarian, non-political, not-for-profit organization strengthening ties between the people of the United States and Israel.” The League organizes a whole bunch of such trips for different American groups every year — and is very open about its goals: To show that there’s more to Israel than the Middle East conflict.

Basically, Israel’s trying to change its image — to rebrand. I’ve already developed mixed feelings about these efforts, which seem necessary because the general perception of life in Israel is skewed — but also makes me strangely queasy at times. For example, I could empathize when one tour organizer talked about how people around the world think of pasta when they think of Italy, but guns when they think of Israel — and how she felt this image did not at all reflect what living Israel was actually like. I felt less comfortable when a government employee involved with this rebranding process went so far as to say it’s more important for Israel to be perceived well, than to be right — and that perception is what was of great importance, politically or otherwise. This comment I found strangely chilling, if very L.A.

I also found the candor with which everyone talked about this rebranding effort — Yes, the word rebranding was actually used, and plans to announce a new tagline of sorts (“like New York’s ‘Big Apple’”) were discussed — very refreshing. More on all that — and actual clean tech stuff — later….

Those conversations, BTW, happened over dinner at a Chinese restaurant near Tel Aviv. I make fun of the “Chinese Food & Donuts” grab-n-go places in L.A. all the time, but those places have nothing on this white table cloth restaurant’s eclecticism! The meal included everything from sushi rolls to what looked like mini empanadas to made-from-concentrate lemonade to a rich chocolate souffle to what I believe was a lamb-and-veggies stirfry.

One of my fave thing about Israel so far: The kosher restaurants, which are very convenient for a lactose-intolerant person like me –

Image by ponte1112

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