CleanTech OC Daily - 11/1/12

Better Place Raises $100 Million As Investors Double Down On Electric Car Bet

Better Place is raising $100 million in funding to attract subscribers to its network of battery switching stations in Israel and Denmark. The electric car infrastructure company is backed by Israel Corporation and will contribute as much as $67 million for the current round. The raise is also taking place amidst major leadership changes as the board ousted the company’s high-profile founder and chief executive, and replaced him with the executive who ran Better Place’s Australian operations.

Report finds record number of state-funded clean energy installations in 2011

According to a report (The Rising Tide of State-Supported Renewable Energy Projects) from the Clean Energy States Alliance, more state-funded clean energy projects were installed in the U.S. in 2011 than ever before. 32,734 state clean energy funds projects represented an 18% increase over 2010 and almost twice the number of projects installed in 2009.

2013 Nissan Leaf Very Shortly To Be American Made
Nissan will start producing the 2013 version of the Leaf right here in the U.S., Tennessee to be exact. Primary production of the Leaf will occur in Smyrna and the car’s electric motor will being tested in the nearby city of Decherd. Nissan has added more than 2000 manufacturing jobs in state since mid-2011, this number will likely increase given the ramped up production of the popular EV.