While no price has yet been set for a battery change at a Better Place centre in the UK, it will be cheaper than buying fuel. And if a driver opts for a recharge rather than battery change, he may be there for half-an-hour but it will only cost him under £2.

"It is a winning business model,” says Bernbaum.

Better Places is not yet in the UK, and the stumbling block to getting a subsidiary created is access to substantial capital – about £2bn reckons Bernbaum - to fund the network of centres needed to allow fleets to consider putting EVs on their fleet.

A Better Place spokesman said the company is “evaluating a number of countries in Europe and Asia as our investors expect us to capitalize on markets where the economics for our business model make the most sense”. But as yet no decision has been made on the UK.

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