SA's brightest spark hits road

2008-10-01 15:30

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 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.

He does not believe power supply to be a problem.

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

"Eskom has vast amounts of excess energy between 23:00 and 06:00 and this will be the recommended recharging time."

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

- SAPA