Jerusalem And Back In A Better Place Car

Another fine example of Israeli Apartheid (not)

This week I took two non-frivolous journeys in my Better Place car: journeys I took because I needed to not just that I wanted to. Here’s the first.

On Tuesday night I drove to Jerusalem, switching my battery on the way and parking in a beautiful car park under the Mamila shopping centre and hotel. The parking garage has 12 places with power for Better Place cars and I was the only EV using the spaces. It was easy. I spent a few hours in Jerusalem, took a few pictures and attended a meeting about 1km from the parking garage. I walked there.

I actually streamed a small part of the battery switch live on Ustream… if you were following my twitter stream and quick you could have seen this live, how exciting! Wait for the 30s mark where the battery gauge shoots from 0 to 100% in an instant.


Live broadcasting by Ustream

On the way back I took home a passenger (Mordechi Kedar) and he paid for a taxi to take us up the hill to the garage. I’d have walked. I had switched my battery at Anava Junction on the road to Jerusalem when it was 57% full. I arrived in Jerusalem with the battery again around 50% and by the time I left (after charging slowly for a few hours) it was full. The trip back down the hill used far less battery (maybe 10% less) and even with a big detour to take Prof Kedar home.

One mild hiccup in Jerusalem: the built in GPS system led me to drive along King George street in a bus lane. That was kinda stupid. I’ve told Better Place and I hope they stop it doing this. I may have to run Waze and have a second opinion while negotiating Jerusalem’s tortuous and often changing narrow streets.

11 thoughts on “Jerusalem And Back In A Better Place Car”

  1. Was the car expensive to buy? How much does it cost to operate, and are there sufficient charging stations and battery exchange station to go places other than Jerusalem? I think electric cars have a good future here, but I’m curious about some of the details. Oh, by the way, you don’t have to pay any attention to the GPS system; I always use a map and a compass, and it has never failed me.

  2. Let me understand it correctly , from Modiin to Jerusalem around 35-40 km and the battery was depleted for 50% , i know its ride all the way up to Jerusalem hills , but still only 40 km with 50% charge , not good.

    1. Yup, about 45km up the hill to Jerusalem going as fast as I wanted without a care in the world because I knew my range wasn’t an issue. I guess I could have kept the speeds down below 90kmh.

      The hill is a big deal though. My entire return journey via Ranaana, Herzliyah and back to North Tel Aviv was only 55% and I also drove as fast as I wanted to. I paid no attention to conservative driving. At one point on the 443 I travelled for minutes at 90 going down hill and the battery meter went UP from 83% to 86% I think.

      Without care, 120km is nearly always possible, unless your entire route is up hill. If it is a balanced return that includes downhill then there’s no issue. My next story is a trip to Beit Shemesh that saw me return home with 9%.

      1. I am planning to get Fluence ZE in couple months , as i work in Jerusalem my trip to work will be from Modiin via 443 , so i guess to my work i will be at 50% but on the way back home i will not spend any electricity , maybe even will get some more with regenerative bracking (-:

        1. If you have an iPhone I strongly recommend you get a copy of iEV 2 the iPhone app I wrote about. If its not still free, drop me a line I’ll talk to the developers. I’ve found it to be pretty accurate estimating how much energy a given journey would use.

          Also remember, if it’s possible and you are committing to 26,000km per year, Better Place will put a charge spot at home and your office.

          1. Thanks ,i have android , i am planning for 20km a year package , my another work (50%) is located at Petah Tikva and i already have 24 charging spots there . (-:

  3. We got our Better place car just over two weeks ago and we love it. I am really looking forward to driving it to Jerusalem, now that the Anava jct. changing station is operational.
    10 days after receiving our car, I had to driv a rented car to Jerusalem (long story…). First, when I strted the engine, I literally jumped in my seat because the noise startled me. I hated every minute of the drive. The rented car (a Ford Focus) felt heavy and unresponsive. I realised how quickly I’d adjusted to the Eletric car. a few days later I drove back to Ra’anana and decided to drop the rental off and go back to Jerusalem by bus because I could not stand driving it again. In a few days I will be back home and I plan to take the whole family to Jerusalem with our lovely new car, can’t wait!

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