HAWAII MOVES TO CAR 2.0 MODEL
With all eyes on Washington this week, Better Place, working with Governor Linda Lingle, announced a plan to help Hawaii move to the Car 2.0 model of electric cars powered by renewable energy. Hawaii, which has an annual $7 billion addiction to oil, has set a plan to reach 70% renewable energy by 2030, which we think we can help them reach faster. With renewable generation powering cool electric cars – like our Better Place Nissan Rogue demonstration vehicle – Hawaii will serve as a blueprint for the US auto sector's future.
While the United States debates a plan to spend $25 billion on Detroit's Car 1.0 model built on the internal combustion engine, China, Europe, and Japan are all quickly moving to the Car 2.0 model of electric drive transportation. In fact, the European Union just last week upped the ante, by announcing a $6.5 billion "European Green Cars Initiative" plan for European automakers to build safer and greener cars.
"What we have to do for the car industry is to help it transform into a more modern industry, more friendly to the environment and in fact adapting it to the new trends in overall demand," said European Union Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso when he announced the package. "We are not proposing an old-fashioned industrial plan for the car industry. We believe it is counterproductive to have this sort of thing."
