CORRECTION: According to Project Better Place, the $30 million investment was part of the $200 million the company announced it raised in October, not a separate round.
A company planning a network of electric car-charging stations has snagged $30 million from an Israeli firm.
According to Reuters, Israel's Ofer Shipping Holdings on Thursday agreed to fund Project Better Place, which hopes to build stations that can quickly recharge or replace batteries in electric cars.
The second round of funding comes after the startup, headed by former SAP software executive Shai Agassi, raised $200 million in October. Ofer Shipping is owned by the Ofer family, which also controls Israel Corp., which contributed $100 million in Project Better Place's first round, giving the Ofers a 33-percent stake in the endeavor.
Other investors in the first round included Morgan Stanley, VantagePoint Venture Partners and individual private investors (see New Choices At the Pump: Battery Recharge or Replacement).
Agassi's venture aims to lease removable batteries for electric cars and build a network of battery-charging and replacement centers around the globe.
The model works to overcome a major hurdle standing in the way of electric-car adoption: not be being able to drive as far on a single charge as gasoline cars can drive on a single tank.
Other companies also have been pushing hard to bring breakthroughs in the electric-drive industry. A major focus continues to be on improving batteries, which are crucial for getting better mileage out of hybrids and better range out of all-electric vehicles (see Batteries Key to Plugging in at Electric Vehicle Symposium).