Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Electric Car, born and bred in South Africa, Unveiled in Cape Town as JOULE

The car was designed by SA-born Keith Helfet, who has also designed a number of high performance Jaguars, such as the iconic XJ-220, XK-180 and F-Type.

Optimal Energy is headed by Kobus Meiring, who worked at Denel Aviation in the 1980s and 1990s. More recently he was project manager of the Southern African Large Telescope project in Sutherland. - IOL

NVDL: Are electric cars the solution? Imagine the sort of strain on the grid if overnight (as the carmakers recommend) hundreds of thousands of car batteries are plugged into the grid?

On the face of it we might think that there is a pollution saving, and there might be. But think of it this way. Tens of thousands of vehicles now have to replaced, including engines. Infratructure has be built. And energy still has to be provided for those batteries.

That energy still comes from coal powered plants. It's still fossil fuels keeping the system running - or trying. Once again we are not addressing the problem. We need to consume less energy. We need more walkable communities. We need to change our living, working and leisure arrangements.

Electric cars are a positive step, but not a solution. We are simply substituting one form of consumption for another. The other issue is the limitations of these batteries, in terms of both the lifespan, cost, range etc. Current range is 200km.
clipped from www.iol.co.za

The vehicle is a compact six-seater that looks like an uncluttered mix of a Renault Scenic and a Citroen Picasso. It is due to make its global debut at next month's Paris Motor Show.

Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena drove the silent vehicle at Killarney on Thursday and said afterwards: "At face value, this may seem a foolhardy venture, given the fiercely competitive nature of the car industry, particularly at a time when market conditions for such products are difficult."

Then he added: "This car is simply gorgeous, and many of us would love to drive it."

Cape Town company Optimal Energy has spent over two years developing the Joule, with the help of R50-million from the National Research Foundation's Innovation Fund.

The car was designed by SA-born Keith Helfet, who has also designed a number of high performance Jaguars, such as the iconic XJ-220, XK-180 and F-Type.
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous9:43 PM

    Electric cars are not the entire solution to the world's environmental problems obviously. However they are cleaner than gas-powered cars even if that power is supplied via a coal plant. There have already been some studies examining this that you can look up.

    The idea behind night charging is that there is usually excess capacity available at night so that additional feedstock (coal, natural gas, what have you) for powerplants is not needed to provide power for automobiles. Is there enough power for millions of cars? In the US there is enough capacity for 80% of cars according to the Department of Energy.

    Of course, coal is really the big problem when it comes to adding CO2 to the atmosphere and must be eliminated. A smart grid coordinating power from renewables and plug-in transportation infrastructure could go a long way towards a zero carbon future.

    Business as usual means pollution as usual and the people and the planet deserve better.

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