The battery switch station is currently designed to cater to Renault Fluence taxis and will initially serve 10 of these taxis operated by Dutch companies Connexxion, Bios and TCA.
Better Place plans to launch the second Battery Switch Station in Amsterdam to cater to the first batch of taxis and eventually expects the battery switch technology to enable taxis to operate around the clock without the need to stop, plug in, and charge; the Schiphol-Amsterdam route sees over 700,000 taxi trips per annum.
Built in partnership with the Schiphol Airport, marks the beginning of the company’s operations in the Netherland’s and coincides with the appointment of Paul Harms as the CEO in the country.
Commenting on the development, Better Place founder and CEO Shai Agassi thanked the European Commission, governments of the Netherlands and Denmark, the Schiphol Airport and Renault for helping it complete the project in 18 months.
"We’re determined to demonstrate to Europe that electric cars can drive any distance in any country and aren’t just limited to short-distance driving," added Agassi.
