Shai Agassi Launches the Electric Car Today, in Israel, read his Inspirational Note to his Team

Better Team,

Steve Jobs said that "while most people live within the boundaries of the world we know around us, very few people actually get to set those

boundaries, by not accepting them". When he mentioned those few people, he was talking about YOU.

Four years ago, we promised the president of Israel, mr. Shimon Peres, that by today we will have serially produced electric cars that would drive in the streets of Israel. It seemed like an impossible dream. Today we delivered those cars to people who will be driving electric cars daily as their only vehicle. We had to move mountains to get to this day, and we did. Yet we have many more mountains to move.

I'd like to take this chance to remind you why we embarked on this journey. We did so not because we search for riches, even though those riches will find us. Not because we want to end something, even though we most likely will. Not for political motivation or environmental bias, even though we will help the environment and most likely change geo-politics. No, we did so, because ever so rarely a simple idea resonates with so many people, with so much power, simply because we all know it is the right thing to do.

Since no single person can solve a problem as big and deeply rooted in our society, we have to offer every person a proposition that will better their own life, an option for them to switch. We will do so by relying on people's free will. And in the words of Carlos Ghosn: "the car will be a great experience - a fun car to drive". And Indeed the Fluence ZE is a fun car, just as he promised. We salute our friends and partners at Renault for their great achievement. 

We have teams spread around the whole world, in Israel and Denmark, Paris and Palo Alto, Melbourne and Tokyo, teams of people who worked relentlessly over the last 1,500 days to deliver a complete system that no one has ever seen before. I thank every one of you from the bottom of my heart! We started from a white paper, full of ideas and many unknowns. While we have delivered most of that white paper, we still have more to do to prove our system works. We will only get better with time.

I also want to thank those who invested the company and stayed true to their commitment and trust. To Idan, our chairman, the entire board and every investor, big and small, we promised not only to make the world a better place, but to build a great company we can be proud of, one that will be profitable and growing. 

And I want to thank your families, I know the days we passed and the days ahead will take us away from our loved ones in the name of our mission. Remember we are all working for our kids, because we promised them we will be saving their world. And we do as we promised.

Finally, as I was driving into today's ceremony, I asked my son how he summarizes our achievement over the last four years. His words ring so true. "Dad, today is just the beginning". we have not accomplished our mission, we are just starting now. I am so proud of you! And I am sure you feel just as I do today.

Isn't this a great beginning?

Shai