Hawaii becomes next stop for Better Place

Palo Alto-based Better Place said its second U.S. target market for electric car infrastructure will be Hawaii.

Better Place got the endorsement of the statet government and utility yesterday, reports the New YorK Times.

The announcement follows news in November that Shai Agassi's Better Place planned to launch a $1 billion electric-vehicle infrastructure in the San Francisco region (see Bay Area to get infrastructure for electric vehicles).

Previously, Better Place announced such ventures in Australia, Israel and Denmark (see Better Place to charge up Australia, Electric cars are coming to Israel and Project Better Place goes to Denmark).

Better Place is initially targeting "island" economies with higher-than-average energy costs before it rolls out the network more broadly.

Better Place plans the network to initially provide charging and batter swap-outs for electric vehicles with a range of more than 100 miles, starting with Israel at the end of 2010. The company plans to deploy vehicles for tests in 2009 and for commercial sales in 2012.

Agassi told the New York Times that Hawaiian drivers rarely go more than 100 miles, creating a need for fewer charging stations than in other planned venues for Better Place.

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