SA's brightest spark hits road

[Nutty_ZA]

01/10/2008 15:30 - (SA)


Meet Joule, Africa's first electric vehicle.


Johannesburg - Meet Joule, Africa's soon-to-be brightest spark. It has four wheels and six seats and needs no fuel to perform.

The continent's first electric vehicle will power onto the market at the end of 2010.

Optimal Energy, a privately-owned SA company, unveiled plans to launch the zero emission, six seater multi-purpose vehicle, named Joule, on Wednesday.

It will take about seven hours for Joule, who was designed by a South African, to re-charge its battery before it is set for a 200-kilometre trip.

Selling in the R200 000 - R250 000 (+-£13 300 - £16 300) price range, Optimal Energy CEO Kobus Meiring said in a statement that Joule will make its debut at the Paris motor show which starts on Saturday.

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

Joule's interior and exterior was designed by SA-born Keith Helfet who was a chief stylist at Jaguar and responsible for designs such as the XJ220, the XK180 and the F-Type.

Two large-cell lithium ion battery packs
"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," says Meiring.

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

"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," said Meiring.
"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."

Most city motorists drive less than 150 kilometres a day, said Meiring.

The first assembly plant will be in Gauteng and Joule will be sold in all major cities.


Read More about it here: http://www.optimalenergy.co.za/

[TheGuru]

is it affordable? I bet not

[Nutty_ZA]

Originally Posted by TheGuru

is it affordable? I bet not

The price is in the article below... it's about average for a Six seater car (about what you would pay for a Renault Scenic or Citroen Picasso)...
They interviewed the CEO on the radio yesterday apparently the battries should last about 10 years

[TheGuru]

Thats not bad

I'd like to see them try and leave it on charge overnight in the middle of nowhere

[fifi2004]

What's the chances of it getting into mass production?

I bet very small.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by fifi2004

What's the chances of it getting into mass production?

I bet very small.

I agree

To be honest I dont think its a viable solution

[nitrambur]

Hmmm zero emissions, how do they make the electricity then?

[InLove]

They catch a lightning bolt with a big net.

Electricty can be made from solar power. Maybe that would work?

[Nutty_ZA]

Originally Posted by InLove

They catch a lightning bolt with a big net.

Currently, South Africa has 2 Nuclear Power stations and the rest are all Coal Fired... there aren't any plans (currently) to build Solar Power Plants (even tho SA has an abundance of Sunshine)... So Nitramburs comment is valid... although, what the manufacturer is saying is that Eskom(SA's parastatal and only electricity supplier) have an excess of power on the grid between 11 pm and 6 am anyway, which is just lost, so no additional electricity needs to be generated to charge the car... I'm not sure if this would be true if everybody in SA bought one tho...

I am sure that the car will go into production, they are planning to sell it on the SA market(initially anyway) and I think there will be a high demand for it just for commuting to work purposes...
I currently commute about 90 KM's/day (which is probably around average for a South African), which costs me an absolute fortune in petrol esp. in gridlocked traffic. There really is no safe public transport system I could use, so I have to travel by car...
If I was going to stay in SA, I think I would buy one esp. as electricity is cheap here(far cheaper than petrol anyway)...
Obviously, if you wanted to travel down to the coast on holiday(if you live Jhb) you'd have to take a petrol vehicle as you are looking at distances of over 500km's however most families have at least 2 cars anyway...

Originally Posted by TheGuru

I'd like to see them try and leave it on charge overnight in the middle of nowhere

LMAO...
Sadly, in this day and age, there really ISN'T a middle of nowhere even if you are camping in a game reserve you have an electricity supply on your camp site...