How Eco-Friendly is Joule Really? Your Question Answered

We have received countless of questions and comments about the Joule, and we have done our best to answer each of your questions in the Frequently Asked Questions section on our website.

This month, we’re taking a look at how eco-friendly all-electric drives such as Joule really are.

A regular question is whether the pollution and climate changing effects of burning petrol are not simply being moved from the exhaust pipe to the power station when people switch to electric cars.

Joule is a zero-emission vehicle, which means a greatly reduced environmental footprint when you switch from a conventional petrol-fueled vehicle. Joule is five times more energy efficient than petrol or diesel vehicles, creating substantially less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in an urban environment. It will also contribute to a radical reduction in noise pollution.

Electric cars only require about 20 percent of the energy that conventional cars need. This means that the total emissions produced by driving are much lower, even if Eskom’s mostly coal-generated electricity is used. Hopefully, the global trend of electricity generation becoming renewable and cleaner will advance swiftly, and total emissions caused by electric cars will continue to drop.

Joule is a battery operated electric vehicle. This means that it can be charged with electricity from any normal plug point.  When the power used to charge it is sourced from much cleaner energy sources such as hydro or solar, this contributes further to the emissions reduction from efficiency. The cherry on top is that Joule’s rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are recyclable and contain no heavy metals.  These benefits collectively contribute to making Joule an environmentally sound investment.

You may be asking why a South African company would design and develop a product which relies on energy from Eskom’s temperamental grid. But independent analysis of Eskom has confirmed that the SA grid does have enough capacity to supply electrical energy to millions of Joules without affecting you, the customer, or requiring any additional infrastructure. Eskom, like many electricity utilities around the world, has vast amounts of spare capacity between 11 PM and 6 AM. There is plenty of electricity generating capacity available to recharge your Joule overnight.

Do you have another question? Simply contact us and we’ll make sure to give you all the answers that you need.