Brian Greenspun believes a bold plan to make Israel an oil-independent, electric car nation is a model for the world

By Brian Greenspun (contact)

Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 | 2 a.m.

If you were going to declare your oil independence, where would you do it?

Why, in the Middle East, of course. To be more precise, in Israel. And that is exactly what did happen last week as Israel’s top government leaders, a major car manufacturer and a high-tech Israeli superstar with a low-tech plan to save the planet came together to announce Project Better Place.

The idea is simple. During the next three years, Renault-Nissan will build an all-electric automobile for use in Israel. The Israeli government will give incentives to drivers across the country to switch from their gas-powered cars to the electric version, and Project Better Place’s network of recharging stations throughout that tiny country will do the rest.

One reason the project was launched in Israel rather than in, say, Las Vegas, is because in Israel there are no major cities more than 100 miles apart. The average Israeli drives 45 miles per day and the cost of gasoline is well above $6 a gallon. Since the lithium-ion batteries that will be used in the cars are good for only about 100 miles without being recharged, the driving habits of Israelis seemed to fit perfectly.

Another very important reason to build this project in Israel is the government’s acute awareness of the nature of oil dependence on that part of the world. “Today is a new age with new dangers and the greatest danger is that of oil,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said. “It is the greatest polluter of our age and oil is the greatest financier of terror.”

The young entrepreneur behind this project is Shai Agassi. He made his first fortune in the software business and a few years ago turned his attention to the big question: How can you run an entire country without depending on oil? He believes, as does the state of Israel and its partner, Renault-Nissan, that they have found the answer.

In a speech announcing the project this past week, Shai said, “It is not typical and a rather humbling moment for a founder of a small startup to share a stage with the prime minister of his own country — Ehud Olmert — and one of the legendary CEOs of our time — Carlos Ghosn.

“It is not typical for a government to take a bold strategic decision and challenge the private sector to help it solve a problem of global magnitude as the prime minister and Israel’s president did.

“But these are not typical times.

“These are times where we are running out of oil in the ground and we are running out of air. The oil we burn harms the atmosphere that controls the climate of our planet. We have reached times where in some parts of our world children cannot see the sky.

“Finally, we are running out of our most precious commodity of all — we are running out of time.”

It is hard to argue with Shai’s logic and with what compels him to find a solution.

“I was inspired to take on this mission by two presidents, standing for the two countries where I am a citizen. First, President John F. Kennedy, who declared in 1961, despite overwhelming skeptics among the public and the experts, that the United States would put a man on the moon within a decade, ‘not because it is easy but because it is hard.’ ”

Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, asked Agassi, “What could be more important than solving this for your country and the world?”

Peres’ simple question inspired Shai “to leave my job, my career, and take on this mission. Peres has been an ongoing mentor in this project and is my personal inspiration for what the will of one man can do for this country of ours.

“But most importantly, I am inspired in this by my two boys. I think about the world that they will inherit from us, and I worry. If we pass to them our addiction to oil, we will make them pay for our sins. If we pass to them an unlivable planet, we have sinned against them. The prophet Jeremiah says that ‘the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Let this proverb not happen in our generation.”

So there you have the inspiration. The determination exists in the words of Ghosn, Ehud Olmert, Shimon Peres and Shai Agassi, who proclaim they will have Israeli cars oil-independent in three years. My money is betting on them because I believe in their motivation and their ability. In fact, and as a matter of full disclosure, my money is riding on them.

The beauty of this project is that nothing new has to be discovered or invented. The technology is available, the government incentives are committed and the overarching goal of an oil-free transportation system is compelling.

We need to remember only one thing. In three years, if this project has proved itself, those of us who can also benefit from an oil-free transportation system — that would be, basically, the rest of the world — must be open to its needs. A private–public partnership that insists it can be done will speak louder and be heard better than the voices of the status quo, which will most assuredly make a nuisance of themselves.

We can become energy-independent and, by doing so, save the planet and refuse to pass the sins of the fathers to their children. Isn’t that a glorious thought?