Africa’s first all-electric locally engineered car has been presented at the Paris Motor Show. Known as Joule, its creators say it uses about 20% of the energy needed by a conventional car and produces no damaging environmental emissions.The six-seat multi-purpose vehicle’s interior and exterior was styled by Keith Helfet, the South Africa-born designer who became famous as Jaguar’s chief stylist. He was responsible for the iconic style of the XJ220, the XK180 and the F-Type Jaguar models.
Joule uses two lithium ion battery packs similar to those used in mobile phones and notebooks – just much bigger.
It takes 7 hours to fully charge batteries using an ordinary 220 volt home outlet. Two batteries ensure 400 kilometres for the Joule’s driving range – practically the same 244 miles range the much-touted Tesla roadster has boasted.
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#20, #21 – in fact, South Africa while it has some infrastructure, is now failing badly. Most of the energy-producing infrastructure is collapsing due to mismanagement, incompetence and gross corruption.
New investment in mining and resources which would bring in much needed cash, is actually being discouraged since there is no reliable energy and electricity that is needed to support such projects.
Do a Google search for “south africa energy crisis” and you’ll see the mess it’s in.
I want one. I have to wait until Manhattan garages have a way to charge a car for a fee. But, I want one.
#4 Paddy-O-Troll,
“It takes 7 hours to fully charge batteries using an ordinary 220 volt home outlet.”
Nice toy. Not really something anyone I know could replace their current vehicle with.
You’re right. I mean who sleeps more than 7 hours a day? Who drives less than 400 clicks a day? 95% of Americans? 98%? I don’t know. But, I bet it’s most of us.
Of course you and your friends driving over 17 hours a day on amphetamines can’t use it. But, for the rest of us …
#5 – Higghawker,
Just wondering?? Anyone have any cost related comparisons to electric vs. petrol? It says here that 7 hours fully charges one for a certain amount of mileage, but where are the cost figures? If my electric car costs me double to run, is it worth it? I also wonder about if our electric grid is ready for this infusion of high charge electric vehicles?
On cost: an electric motor is about 80% efficient. A gasoline motor is about 35-40% efficient. So, in general, even where electricity is expensive, the cost of driving is much lower. So is the cost of maintenance. With fewer moving parts, electric cars need little maintenance.
As for the grid, two things: 1) most people will charge at night, when there is plenty of extra capacity and 2) People are looking into the possibility of electric cars and hybrids as a possible energy storage means.
For point 2, many are looking into the possibility of making the electricity flow both ways. Charge at night. Drive to work. Plug in. During the day, if more electricity is needed on the grid, some would be taken from cars, and the owners compensated. It would level the demand so that we don’t always need enough power plants to power the few hours of the day when everyone has their A/C on.
http://tinyurl.com/5vlcgm
#6 Paddy-O-Troll,
Obama doesn’t have any plans for additional base power generation. In other words, electric cars are not coming anytime soon in mass quantities.
We don’t need to increase grid power. We have enough to power air conditioners during the day. At night we would just leave current generators running longer. We will not have to worry for a very long time about increasing the grid power for electric cars. Before we worry about the grid, we’d have to get assholes with preconceived notions and little real information to recognize that these are good vehicles.
So, we don’t have to worry until we convince you, and possibly not even then.
Re:#9,#18 & #30;
I don’t know where to start, most people own and use an appropriate vehicle for their needs. I own a 3/4 4×4 pickup that gets 14mpg but only use it for towing and hauling. For commuting and shopping chores we use two small front drive cars that get almost 30 mpg. certainly one of these small cars could be replaced by a small electric car – if it is affordable. I would not expect the electric to replace the truck, but the electric probably would get the most use day to day.
Don’t forget about the 600 HP 100% electric Ford F150. It has a 150 HP electric motor in each wheel. Putting the motor in the wheels leaves more room for batteries. The cool thing about batteries is that you run around on the cheapest batteries at first, then after a few years when the price of batteries with better range comes down you can simply replace them like you would in your TV remote. Also, there is enough grid capacity at night to handle millions of electric cars charging while we sleep (when everyone turns all the lights and TVs off all at once) without adding a single power plant. Some power companies even charge less at night if you install a time-of-use meter on your house. You can make even more money by taking the money you would be spending each month on gas ($100-$300+) and use it to pay for solar panels on your roof. You can then charge your car for FREE and it will be zero emissions. Go here for facts and figures and more EV info: http://www.pluginamerica.org/what-are-plugins.shtm