SA to unveil Africa's first electric car in Paris

Named “Joule”, the ultra sleek zero-emission car is Africa's answer to climate change.

The car has been named after British physicist James Prescott Joule, who was best known for his research in electricity and thermodynamics.

Behind the scenes

Joule is a six-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) designed by Optimal Energy in association with legendary South African-born automotive designer, Keith Helfet.

Optimal Energy, a privately-owned company based in Cape Town specialising in optimal solutions for urban transport, was capitalised with a R50 million investment from the Innovation Fund (IF), an instrument of the department.

In a statement, CEO of Optimal Energy Kobus Meiring said: “The world's finite energy sources are being used inefficiently and urban transport plays a major role in energy wastage and climate changing pollution.”

He added that Joule was Optimal Energy's solution to climate change.

“We have capitalised on the opportunity presented by the exponential increase in oil costs and the dramatic improvement in battery price, life and performance.

“Joule's value proposition is made more compelling when environmental influences such as increasing pollution and global warming phenomena caused by the rapid increase in urbanisation are also considered,” he said.

Styling and specs

Meiring confirmed that Joule's interior and exterior was styled by Keith Helfet who was formerly the chief stylist at Jaguar. He was responsible for such iconic designs as the XJ220, the XK180 and the F-Type.

“Optimal Energy was searching for a world class designer, the fact that Keith is South African born and has strong South African roots matched our criteria perfectly,” said Meiring.

Joule's chassis has been designed to accommodate two large-cell lithium ion battery packs which employ chemistry similar to that used in mobile phones and laptop computers.

The chemistry is safe; lithium is found in many medicinal applications and the batteries do not contain any heavy metals.

Using a normal 220 Volt home outlet and Joule's onboard charger, it will take approximately seven hours to recharge Joule's battery for a 200km driving range, with two packs providing 400km in total.

Joule's large battery bay is able to accommodate a number of different battery configurations from different suppliers, giving the customer the choice of performance and cost.

“Studies show that 99% of urban users drive less than 150km's a day, Optimal Energy recommends that only one battery pack is necessary to power Joule,” said Meiring.

Eskom's capacity is 'sufficient'

Eskom, South Africa's electricity provider, has confirmed that the country's electricity grid has enough capacity to supply electrical energy to millions of cars without affecting its customer base or requiring any additional infrastructure.

Eskom has excess energy between 11pm and 6am and this will be the recommended recharging time.

Electric cars only require about 20% of the energy that conventional cars require; meaning that the total emissions are much less, even if Eskom's coal dominated electricity is used.

With the global trend of electricity generation becoming more renewable and cleaner, total emissions caused by electric cars will continue to shrink.

Gauteng is currently being evaluated for Joule's first assembly plant as it has the biggest cities and has expressed interest in placing the first fleet orders.

Although supplier lists are not yet final, it is expected that the local content of Joule will be more than 50%.

Joule will be sold in all major South African cities, such as Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban, however South Africans will have to wait two years before seeing it on our roads.

It will only be available towards the end of 2010.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews