Israelis recently got a first demonstration electric car that developers hope will revolutionize transportation in Israel and serve as a pilot for the rest of the world.

The Sillicon Valley start-up project Better place hopes the fully electric prototype will be on Israel’s streets in large numbers by 2010.If the company’s plan proceeds on schedule, Israel will be the first country to have electric cars on its highways in large numbers.

The project is a joint venture between automotive giant Renault-Nissan, which came up with the business model and is supposed to operate a recharging grid to be built across Israel beginning in 2009.The project is a joint venture between automotive giant Renault-Nissan, which came up with the business model and is supposed to operate a recharging grid to be built across Israel beginning in 2009.

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Israel’s government recently endorsed the ambitious plan of a private entrepreneur to install the world’s first electric car network here by 2011, with half a million recharging stations to crisscross the tiny nation. Supporters hailed the undertaking as a bold step in the battle against global warming and energy dependency, but skeptics warned that much could still go wrong along the way.

In a signing ceremony with the Renault-Nissan Alliance under the slogan “Transportation without fuel, making peace between transportation and the environment” Israel’s leaders pledged to provide tax incentives to customers to make Israel’s cars fuel-free.

The project is a joint venture between Renault-Nissan, which will provide the electric vehicles, and the Silicon Valley-based startup Project Better Place, which will operate the recharging grid.

The replacement and charging of the lithium-ion batteries is supposed to work like that of a cell phone battery.

The initiative is the brainchild of Shai Agassi, a 39-year-old Israeli-American entrepreneur and high-tech star, who raised $200 million to get the project off the ground.