Better Place Wins 2009 INDEX: Design to Improve Life Award - VIDEO ENHANCED

COPENHAGEN - August 29, 2009: Better Place announced yesterday that it has won the 2009 INDEX: Design to Improve Life Award in the community category for the company’s complete solution for charging electric vehicles. As one of five winners for the INDEX: 2009 Awards, Better Place will receive a prize in the amount of €100,000, which the company plans to give back to the community in the form of a student design contest to be announced on October 27, 2009.

INDEX, a Danish non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire designs that meet the needs of society, presented the award today to Better Place Founder and CEO, Shai Agassi, at its biannual black-tie INDEX design ceremony in Copenhagen. The INDEX award win comes one month after the Better Place charge spot design won the 2009 International Design Excellence Award.

“From day one, our philosophy has been that electric cars need to be more convenient and more affordable than traditional petrol-powered cars if consumers are going to go green on a global scale,” Agassi said. “To make electric cars more convenient and affordable, the infrastructure has to be designed for consumer ease of use as well as for urban aesthetics. Our view is that the more consumers who want convenient, affordable and fun electric cars, the more communities will want Better Place infrastructure deployed on their premises to attract consumers. We’re thrilled to be recognized by a design leader like Kigge Hvid and the INDEX team and are honored to receive this year’s award.”

In the judges’ review of the entire Better Place system design and architecture, the judges concluded:

“Everything seems to promise major impact for Better Place: This huge complex of partnerships and agreements, early adapters and tests appears to be in line to meet the size of the challenge Better Place attempts to address. At the same time, many consumers are reportedly enthusiastic about the shift to electric vehicles and the potential to eliminate exposure to surges in gas prices, foster new job opportunities, and reduce CO₂ emissions for better air quality. On top of this, governments are increasingly supportive as they look to stimulate weakened economies and improve trade balances. Automakers are finally developing more electrically powered vehicles in hopes of revitalizing exceptionally weak consumer demand and avert more corporate collapses. Prospects for success and apparent need for this approach seem to indicate that Better Place can be seen as one of the most important developments of today.”

With the INDEX: Award, Better Place will receive a prize in the amount of €100,000. Better Place has decided to give back to the community by sponsoring a university-level student design competition with the details to be announced on October 27, 2009. The competition will inspire university-level students to help Better Place to design an automated “hands free” solution to charging electric cars.

Click PLAY to watch a video demonstration of the swapping process

Better Place worked with New Deal Design of San Francisco and Nekuda DM Ltd. of Israel to develop the initial designs for the overall system. A model of the Better Place system will be included in the INDEX: Award Exhibition.

To see the entire Better Place solution live, please visit our booth at the Frankfurt Motor Show, beginning September 15, 2009. For more information, please visit www.betterplace.com/frankfurt.

Click PLAY to watch the Battery Switching Press Conference in Yokohama


Click PLAY to watch video of original Nissan-Renault/Better Place/Israel press conference

About Better Place
Better Place, the leading electric vehicle services provider, is accelerating the global transition to sustainable transportation. Better Place is building the infrastructure and intelligent network to deliver a range of services to drivers, enable widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and optimize energy use. The Better Place network addresses historical limitations to adoption by providing unlimited driving range in a convenient and accessible manner. The company works with all parts of the transportation ecosystem, including automakers, battery suppliers, energy companies, and the public sector, to create a compelling solution. Based in California and privately held, Better Place has operating companies in Israel, Denmark, and Australia.