Joule was an electric five seat passenger car by Optimal Energy, a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n company based in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. According to the company, it was to have a nominal driving range of 150 km and a top speed of 135 km/h. Designed to achieve a Euro NCAP 4 star safety rating, it complied with the stringent EU standards. It was a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

that was never released commercially; development ceased in April 2012, and in June 2012 Optimal Energy announced its intention to close down.

Unveiling

The Joule was first unveiled to the general public at the

2008 Paris Motor Show The 2008 Paris Motor Show took place from 4 October to 19 October 2008, in Paris expo Porte de Versailles. This edition of the Paris Motor Show featured a high number of hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs), that led a blogger with ''The New York Ti ...

on October 2, 2008. It underwent some interior and exterior changes, most notably the change from a six-seater to a 5-seater vehicle, before being revealed to the public at the 2010 Geneva Motor show on 2 March 2010 in a form that was close to the final version.

Optimal Energy

The Joule was the first electric car to be produced by Optimal Energy, the

based company has been working on the concept since 2004. The design of the car was done by

Jaguar car Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsibl ...

designer

Keith Helfet Keith Helfet is a South African automotive designer. After demonstrating little academic promise in South Africa, Helfet turned to art. He had a natural affinity for automotive design and was accepted as a student into the most prestigious auto ...

, who is best known for the XJ220, and the F-type concept car. The Joule showed the same 'flowing lines' as his previous designs. Kobus Meiring, Optimal Energy CEO, suggested that

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

of the

Internal Combustion Engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

has fuelled the increasing need for sustainable vehicle propulsion systems. This, as well as increasing

fuel prices The usage and pricing of gasoline (or ''petrol'') results from factors such as crude oil prices, processing and distribution costs, local demand, the strength of local currencies, local taxation, and the availability of local sources of ga ...

and rising country taxes, caused Optimal Energy to embark on the production of a vehicle that could meet these needs.

Investment to date

Funding was primarily through government investments, in particular, the South African Department of Science & Technology (DST) through the

Innovation Fund Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

, as well as other private investments. The Innovation Fund invested about US$5 million in the project. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa is a major shareholder, with 22% of equity in Optimal Energy.

Class

The Joule was classed as a five-seat passenger car.

Specifications

*Length - *Turning Circle - *Mass - *Seats - Five *Boot space - *Top Speed - Governed at *Acceleration - 0–60 km/h in less than 5 sec *Range - *Charge time - The battery has a nominal recharge time of 10–12 hours

Closure

A small pilot fleet of Joules was manufactured in conjunction with

Hi-Tech Automotive Hi-Tech Automotive is a low volume car builder and design house located in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Most of the vehicles produced are exported, notably to the US and UK. The main distributor of the cars built by Hi-Tech is Superformance. ...

in Port Elizabeth during 2010. The car was expected to be sold in South Africa as well as Europe from 2014, but production ceased in April 2012 after Optimal Energy failed to find a commercial partner. Optimal Energy announced its intention to close down in June 2012. It was widely reported in the media that the company was bleeding cash, the production date had been pushed back four times, and the proposed sales figures were unrealistic. Optimal Energy required more than R2bn to bring the model to production, by which time it would have been obsolete. With the private sector unwilling to invest, the government declined to commit more taxpayers' money to an enterprise which was not commercially viable.

References

{{reflist Electric concept cars Cars of South Africa de:Optimal Energy#Optimal Energy Joule