Japan is a Better Place?

Japan wants to make recharging electric cars as easy as filling a gas tank. The country is hosting the EV evangelists from electric-vehicle startup Better Place, encouraging them to build battery-exchange stations that might bring cars with cords into the mainstream.

The California company joins Subaru and Mitsubishi in helping the Japanese government get on the road toward toward its goal: half of all cars sold by 2020 will be electric. The pilot program announced Tuesday will allow consumers to swap depleted batteries for fresh ones easily when they don't have time to plug in. Limited to municipal fleets, the program is the first step toward electrifying Japan's vehicle fleet.

"Better Place is honored to participate in this groundbreaking program in a country with so much auto-manufacturing expertise," said Shai Agassi, the entrepreneur behind the venture. "Japan is moving one step closer to the next-generation, Car 2.0 model of electric cars fueled by renewable energy."

The deal comes one week after Hawaii said it will work with Better Place to roll out as many as 100,000 EV charging spots by 2012. Better Place demonstrated the technology for the first time Monday in Israel, and the first battery exchange stations could appear in Japan early next year.