The latest news about Optimal Energy, Joule - The electric car

A pre-feasiblity study to determine the viability of manufacturing large-cell lithium-ion batteries in South Africa will start in the second half of 2010.

And with South Africa's first electric car, the Joule, expected to be manufactured either in the East London or Coega industrial development zone, it is logical that a battery plant will be located at the same site.

In today’s pricing terms, South Africa’s Joule electric vehicle will sell at R235 000 to R285 000, with the battery, the most costly component of the car, leased at an additional R1 500 a month, says Optimal Energy spokesperson Jaco van Loggerenberg.

IN today’s pricing terms, South Africa’s Joule electric vehicle will sell at between R235000 and R285000, with the battery – the most costly component of the car – leased at an additional R1500 a month, according to Optimal Energy spokesman Jaco van Loggerenberg.

Optimal Energy, the SA company behind the Joule all-electric car, hopes to build the vehicle in East London. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Eastern Cape city’s industrial development zone (IDZ) to erect a car assembly plant there.

The Electric Vehicles market is irrefutably changing the landscape of the automotive world and its related industries.  To successfully grasp these changes as well as the manifold opportunities and implications they bring, it is critical to understand the new business models and infrastructure trends in the EV space

The world’s largest sporting event will kick off in Johannesburg on the 11th of June 2010. This is the first time that the best football teams in the world will compete live for the title of world champions on South African soil.