EV spotting in Israel

Forum, I recurrent returned from a week and a half trip to Israel. (Visiting my son who is doing a service year in Tel Aviv working with refugee kids)

We visited a few cities in the country and here was my ev spotting.

Hybrid - really not interesting, but the Kia Niro Hybrid and Hyundai Ionic hybrid cleaned up in Israel. Every 3rd car was one of the 2.

Plug In Hybrids - many many Niro Plug in Hybrids. Also saw a few Outlander Phevs, as well as a few random phevs like the Volvo XC90 Plug in and a BMW. Niro Plug in was by a wide margin the most visible electrified choice on the road.

For full electric, Teslas were by far the most visible full EV on the roads, with highest density in Tel Aviv, though I did see one in Jerusalem and a couple in Haifa. That said, I also saw many eTrons, a couple Ionic5s and an Airways EV.

Sadly, no Leaf sightings. There are only about 400 Leafs in Israel, so I knew my chances were low.

Nice, Israel is a beautiful country. To bad for the neighboring countries. I was there in the year 2k for a few months for work and I loved it.
I was shocked on how built up and rich the country was.

I'm surprised there are any LEAF at all

Hot Climate
No DC charging
No 3 phase charging

Sage, that's very simplistic. There is skiing in the North and a desert in the south. Our April weather in Tel Aviv was rain at 50F. Depending where you are at, weather can be colder then Chicago or as hot as Phoenix.

There is a growing DC network in the country, though a 200 mile range would take you almost anywhere but Eilat.

DougWantsALeaf said:

Sage, that's very simplistic. There is skiing in the North

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Now that is funny.
Go ahead, tell the forum the population of that part of the country with skiing. Then look up the average temperature for the hottest 9 months of the year on the coastal plain, and the percentage of the population of Israel that live there.

I should give you as much rope as desired but I'm feeling generous today so I'll let you in on a little seekret. I am Israeli. You are not going to be able to BS. In case you are wondering -- I have skied Mt Hermon, and I am familiar with Majdal Shaams.

I don't recall anything about posting climate data based on population distribution. Let's just say that most of Israel is Hot and some of it isn't.

^^

No

Discard the 'skiing in the North.' That is ONE mountain. :lol: :lol: :lol:

The rest of the country varies from hot to hotter. The coastal plain is a Med type climate that does not get hot in the way say Phoenix does but it would be hard on a LEAF because the nights are not much cooler than the days.

It should be obvious that it matters where the people are. :roll: :roll:

SageBrush said:

I should give you as much rope as desired but I'm feeling generous today so I'll let you in on a little seekret. I am Israeli. You are not going to be able to BS. In case you are wondering -- I have skied Mt Hermon, and I am familiar with Majdal Shaams.

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While we're "coming out", I have a couple of cousins (Doctors) who live in Israel, and I was lucky enough to visit many years ago (saw everything from the Golan Heights down to the resort in Eilat). I may be biased , but what a great country and source of innovation!

Nice.

Israel is a country of contrasts in so many ways. For just about every outstanding thing, there is something that is ... not.

I went to Medical School in Tel Aviv in the 1980's

Stanton said:

SageBrush said:

I should give you as much rope as desired but I'm feeling generous today so I'll let you in on a little seekret. I am Israeli. You are not going to be able to BS. In case you are wondering -- I have skied Mt Hermon, and I am familiar with Majdal Shaams.

Click to expand...

While we're "coming out", I have a couple of cousins (Doctors) who live in Israel, and I was lucky enough to visit many years ago (saw everything from the Golan Heights down to the resort in Eilat). I may be biased , but what a great country and source of innovation!

Click to expand...

Truly a bright star in the Middle East!

Sage

Fantastic. My son is doing Schnat Sheroot in Tel Aviv this year working with kids. 12, 18-19 year olds living in a small house in a swanky part of the city. He will never have it so good.

Yes, yes, I was over selling the single ski hill.

I think given the car taxes, most would opt for the 90K model 3 over spending 60K on a 40kWh Leaf, especially if it's your only car. It did seem like most M3s were SR+ and not the LR dual motor. Beyond heavy rain, not sure you need 4wd.

I had my daughters former teacher (we visited her old school in Hoda Sharon) pull his electric bill to see current rates, about .18/kWh which didn't seem too bad.

It sounds like they are contemplating moving to a per km tax for EVs as they are getting off very cheap with gas at 7.4 Shekels a liter.

I saw a few Teslas in Modiin as well, as supposedly there are a ton there. That city has grown gangbusters..but almost feels a little too planned and loses some of the fun of Israel.

DougWantsALeaf said:

I think given the car taxes, most would opt for the 90K model 3 over spending 60K on a 40kWh Leaf, especially if it's your only car.

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Taxes on EVs in Israel are complicated. A large fraction are waived, but there is a maximum waiver. If the law does not change, IIRC 2021 was the highest tax waiver, and it will be gone in a couple of years. As the waiver decreases, it is a pretty sure bet that EV sales will plummet.

The Gov is 'invested' in ICE, in the sense of collecting high purchase taxes and high petrol taxes. The Gov does not 'mind' a couple percent of EV in the fleet, but soon enough there will be fierce resistance to continuing the subsidies or not collecting some equivalent of fuel taxes -- and then we'll see how many EVs are being purchased.

Trivia detail: The lion's share of oil is Russian, piped via Turkey