Eitan Wertheimer (L) with Warren Buffet
Photo: AP
ISCAR boss considering electric auto venture
Eitan Wertheimer wants to turn Israel into center for testing electric cars in joint venture with leading business software company
Less than a year after selling his father's cutting tool giant, ISCAR,
to Warren Buffet for $4 billion, Eitan Wertheimer, has his eyes set on a new business adventure: The son of Israel's richest man wants to develop cars that run on electricity.
Wertheimer has been discussing his new business project with Shai Agassi, the president of SAP, the world's largest business software company, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
'This is a revolution'
The two men hope their plan will create a stir among the big players in the auto industry as the first step towards making Israel the center of the electric car industry.
The project has been supported by prominent politicians like Vice Premier Shimon Peres, who offered to put his fundraising skills at the service of the ambitious entrepreneurs.
"This is a revolution in the auto market at a time of crisis in the oil industry," Wertheimer told Yedioth. "Israel is an ideal place for an international test that may change the face of the car industry: It is a small country with few kilometers of motorway that is most suitable for testing this new technology."
Wertheimer said that although no company has been set up for the project, he has been receiving "technical advice" about making electric cars.
At the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos in January, Peres announced plans to turn Israel into the world's center for tests on electric cars.
Peres said he had met with representatives from two leading carmakers, a European and an Asian, in an attempt to chose Israel as a venue for testing the new technology.
