"One of the malls we work with already has a policy of two warnings to vacate at the end of charging and then charging NIS 35 per hour of parking from those who do not move the car. I hope it will expand."
"It's a fascinating and challenging market. I have two owners, Sonol and Mashek Energy, who know the field and are helping me in entering the position. It's still a young and growing market, as part of a global change. We have 1,000 slow charging stations and 120 fast charging stations throughout the country, from Eilat to "The north, including in the outskirts of Gaza, in the kibbutzim and in the Azrieli shopping malls," says Yuval Elazar, CEO of Sonol EVI, in his first interview
. for sales, service and customer retention at Amishragaz and before that in a series of senior positions, including CEO of Iroka, VP of International Operations at Israel Theaters as well as at Deloitte Consulting in Israel, the USA and Europe.
Why is it that none of the charging companies manage to make money, Even when there are more than 110,000 trams in Israel?
"Revenues are increasing, but the investments are large at this stage, so the return on investment is low. A fast position costs about NIS 200,000 before investing in the electricity infrastructure and increasing capacity. The goal is to tell this market. There is an understanding that this is a long race that will have many investments. Almost all the money for infrastructures comes from the private companies, the economic slippage from the state is very small. There have only been 3 state electoral votes to receive a subsidy for positions, and one was canceled in recent months. It is far from enough. 48% of Israelis do not have private parking that would allow them to charge at night at home."
The state approved the imposition of a travel tax on trams and the cancellation of the discount on the license fee.
"The state should make it easier for tram owners, not make it worse. In Europe, too, we see that while Germany made headlines because it canceled subsidies for trams, the Netherlands, Greece and Romania continue to give up to 7,000 euros, and that's when the purchase tax there is lower.
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"There is a bill by MK Erez Melol of Shas that is intended to solve the problem and has not been promoted in the Knesset for months
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One mall we work with already has a policy of two eviction notices at the end of charging and then charging NIS 35 per hour of parking. Hope it expands. There are individual municipalities that are already enforcing."
Why aren't there almost 350 kilowatt ultra-fast stations that allow charging of 100 km in five minutes?" It's a combination of the transmission limitations and the high cost of such stations, and the demand that is still low"
Are the municipalities doing enough to promote trams?
"The state should have done what the Jerusalem Municipality is doing. There are already 200 slow and 20 fast public stations in the city, which we are placing through Aden, the municipality's economic company. In Aden, they help us when necessary in opening barriers in front of departments in the municipality, sit with the electric company on places where The problem with the network. Every position we open sees an increase in use. And this policy comes from the top: Mayor Moshe Leon told us that he is encouraging the public to switch to an electric vehicle.
Although in the first months of the year electric cars reached an impressive market share of 25%, in the vehicle fleets and leasing the numbers are much lower.
"The car fleet is also starting to grow. We are no longer talking about individual cars for the company, a company comes and says I am now leasing 80 electric cars and in two years I will have 200. Companies come to us to plan the increase in infrastructure, the charging in their complexes and in the employees' homes. They also want to allow employees who have They have a private tram, not from work, to claim in the office."
Is it possible to have an electric car without a charging station at home?
"Whoever comes to the office at least 3 times and has a position there, is a worthy replacement."
Those who do not have charging at home depend on the speed stations, where the prices are much higher than for charging at home, which costs 62 cents per kilowatt.
"With us, the highest price per kilowatt in fast charging is NIS 2.35 for registered users, and in the municipalities we work with, the price drops to NIS 1.6-1.7."
Why aren't there fast charging complexes in Israel with 10-20 sockets like abroad, where the driver knows that he will always find one available and won't have to wait?
"Mainly because of the transmission limitations of the electricity network. We can split a 180kW position between 4 cars when needed. We already have a complex with 4 fast charging sockets and we are building one with 8 sockets, which we will reveal later."
Why are there almost no ultra-fast 350 kilowatt stations that enable charging of 100 km in five minutes? There are already thousands of cars in Israel that can enjoy charging, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Audi and Porsche, and more are on the way.
"It's a combination of the transmission limitations and the high cost of such positions, and the still low demand."
Why isn't electricity storage used, which can bypass transmission problems and activate high-speed stations even in a place with low power?
"We are making great efforts in this direction. Today the investment needed for a storage facility that would allow such a thing has dropped to half a million shekels. Here too the state can encourage and help by lowering taxation on the huge batteries."
What will be the growth rate of the tram fleet in Israel?
"I believe and hope that 100,000 electric cars will be sold here this year, and I hope that the state will know how to help. We will double the number of high-speed stations at the gas stations and grow in the cities as well. In the future, the predictions that in 2030 there will be between 900,000 and 1.2 million electric cars seem reasonable to me, and oh my, if No. We need to get there."
How are you preparing for Passover?
"We have increased customer service, with a hotline at full service between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and trouble-shooting machines between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. In recent weeks, we have activated express stations at the Sonol stations in the Azrieli Mall, Ramla, and at the Sonol stations in Kfar Adumim, Ein Bokek, Tzumat Golni, Shaar Carmel and Shoham. These stations join the new high-speed stations we launched recently in Gan Yavne, Sonol Acre, Sonol Migdal HaEmek and Azrieli Tel Aviv."