Better Place, the developer of the electric car and battery charging project, this week signed an agreement with Israel Railways for the development of electric car charging stations at the railway parking lots.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was signed by Yitzhak Harel, director-general of Israel Railways, and Moshe Kaplinsky, CEO of Better Place Israel, a pilot program will start in the coming months to place 220 charging stations at railway stations across the country. The stations include Haifa-Bat Galim, Haifa Center, Acre, Beit Yehoshua, Herziliya, Hod Hasharon, Petah Tikva-Segula, Petah Tikva-Kiryat Arye, Bnei Brak and Pe'atei Modi'in at which thousands of Israelis will be able to charge their cars everyday while they ride the trains.

The electric car initiative co-owned by Israeli-born high-tech Wunderkind Shai Agassi and the Israel Corporation, was founded in October 2007 on $200 million of venture capital. Since its establishment, Better Place announced cooperative agreements with Israel, Denmark, Australia, California, and Hawai, to transform their transportation infrastructure from oil-based to renewable energy beginning in 2010, and significantly reduce harmful emissions.

Sticking to this business model, Shai Agassi forecasts that Israel will be well on its way to achieving its stated revolutionary goal of oil independence by 2020.