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Carlos Ghosn, the president of the French-Japanese car manufacturer Renault Nissan, is expected to visit Israel on January 21, and take part in the inauguration event of the Israeli electric car enterprise.

Ghosn is expected to announce that his company will invest in the enterprise, which is led by the Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi, and set up a major development center in Israel.

Agassi's endeavor seeks to establish an infrastructure to cater for hundreds of thousands of environment-friendly electric cars, which will gradually replace petrol- and diesel-fueled cars, whose environmental effect is devastating.
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The cars themselves would be free of greenhouse gas emissions, but the electricity generation process would still be powered by fossil fuels. Nonetheless, the electric car would contribute to the reduction of noise and pollution in town centers.

The business model is like that of a cellular network. What cellular service providers do is seed the territory in which they work with transponders (antennas). Agassi plans to scatter charging stations throughout the countries that choose to join the ambitious project. Moreover, it would work together with local entrepreneurs in each area, and would also cooperate with car manufacturers, battery makers and private entrepreneurs.

Renault Nissan is the fourth biggest car manufacturer worldwide, and the first to set up a development center in Israel, by means of a multi-million dollar investment. The center would house the full development process of the electric car, but the assembly is expected to be carried out elsewhere.

During his visit, Ghosn will meet President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Finance Minister Roni Bar-On and Israeli business leaders.

Meanwhile, the government is scheduled to vote on Sunday on a green taxation scheme which was proposed by the finance minister. According to the proposal, a 10 percent purchase tax will be imposed on low-emission vehicles, such as the electric car, and 78 percent on polluting vehicles.

Source: www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/943956.html