Handing Over the Keys to TAU
The Institute of Innovation in Transportation at TAU’s Porter School of Environmental Studies joined with car manufacturer Renault and its local importer Carasso Motors to establish an Open Innovation Lab for electric cars. The lab will be housed in the Porter School Building, which also hosts the Institute’s Smart Transportation Accelerator.
Ms. Nadine LeClair, Senior Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Development at Renault was on hand to launch the initiative. Handing over the keys to two Renault electric cars to Prof. Danny Rabinowitz, Head of the Porter School, she said, “Renault is very interested in Israel, which ranked 5th for the second year running in the Bloomberg Innovation Index. We also chose Tel Aviv University, where entrepreneurship and innovation go hand in hand with research.”
Prof. Rabinowitz praised the new partnership, saying, “Two years ago, we established the Institute of Innovation in Transportation and since then wonderful things have been happening such as this agreement with Renault.” He noted that the Institute operated jointly with TAU’s Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering in cooperation with the Fuel Choices Initiative of the Prime Minister's Office, which provides over $5 million in funding.
Other attendees included Mr. Yoel Carasso, Chairman of Carasso Motors; Mr. Itzik Weitz, CEO of Carasso Motors; Mr. Eyal Rosner, Chairman and Director of the Fuel Choices Initiative of the Prime Minister’s Office; and Mr. Ariel Sella, Managing Director of TAU’s Smart Transportation Accelerator.
A Renault ZOE electric car was displayed in the lobby during the event, one of two cars loaned by Renault for technological experiments in the Accelerator.
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