A group of investors has taken over the remains of Israel's bankrupt electric car venture, pledging to give the once-vaunted flagship project another boost.
Electric car company Better Place filed for liquidation in May, less than six years after unveiling a plan promising to revolutionize the auto industry by reducing the world's oil dependency. As recently as last August, the company was valued at $2 billion.
On Wednesday, an Israeli court allowed a consortium that included Better Place car owners and entrepreneurs to purchase its assets for less than $12 million.
Efi Shahak, who heads Israel's electric car drivers' association, said the group was committed to maintaining Israel's 2,000 charging spots and its battery swap services. He said the takeover would give Israel "a second chance to get it right."
Yosef Abramowitz, the head of the SunRaise group, which acquired Better Place, said in an interview with Forbes Israel that the battery changing stations would service every electric car in the world.
"Israel is the only country that has a network like this already in place," he said.
Abramowitz, who co-founded Israel's Arava Power and is head of solar power field developer Energiya Global Capital, along with Israel's electric vehicle association will pay 18 million shekels ($4.9 million) for Better Place's Israeli assets.
They will also pay 25 million shekels for the intellectual property of Better Place Switzerland, Abramowitz said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We have gotten beyond the period of monopolies," he said. "Our charging stations will be freely usable for every electric vehicle in the world. Better Place spent a lot of time and money on infrastructure that works excellently, so that we don't need to invest, just to operate the stations and turn them into a national asset."
"We thank the judge and liquidators for their professional work," Shahak said after the company's operations and intellectual property were transferred to his group on Wednesday afternoon.
Better Place filed a motion in an Israeli court on Wednesday to wind up the company, bringing an end to a venture whose battery charging network had aimed to boost electric car sales.
Better Place partnered with Renault in 2008 to create an electric car system combining charging terminals with battery swap stations to increase the range of electric cars and put an end to drivers' worries about running out of power.
It had raised more than $850 million from top-tier investors, and two years ago said it was valued at $2.25 billion.
Abramowitz said he planned to refocus the company to include various types of electric cars and was seeking new investment of as much as $36 million.
"Our vision is to transform the charging network into an open, national technology and service platform for all current and future electric vehicles," he said. "We look forward to Israelis soon driving and charging Teslas and other electric vehicles that will save money for both drivers and government, fight climate change and keep our air clean."
Abramowitz, who will co-chair the new version of Better Place, said commitments had been secured for 25 percent of the funds needed to operate the company for the next two years.
The company expects to break even within two years as Israeli civilian consumers, the government and the military buy more electric cars.
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