Privately-owned Cape Town-based automotive firm Optimal Energy will showcase Africa's first all-electric, zero-emission vehicle at the annual Paris Motor Show starting tomorow.

Named after British researcher British physicist James Prescott Joule, known for his research in electricity and thermodynamics, the eco-friendly six-seater Joule has been dsigned by South African born automotive designer, Keith Helfet, who has styled the interiors and the exterior of the car.

Helfet has a long and illustrious history as chief stylist at Jaguar and was responsible for such iconic designs as the XJ220, the XK180 and the F-Type.

''Keith was serendipitously introduced to Optimal Energy while purchasing coastal property in South Africa and was immediately captivated by our vision," says Kobus Meiring, CEO of Optimal Energy. "Optimal Energy was searching for a world class designer, the fact that Keith is South African born and has strong South African roots matched our criteria perfectly,'' says Meiring.

Meiring says, ''The world's finite energy sources are being used inefficiently and urban transport plays a major role in energy wastage and climate changing pollution. Joule is Optimal Energy's solution to change that. We have capitalised on the opportunity presented by the exponential increase in oil costs and the dramatic improvement in battery price, life and performance."

Joule's chassis has been designed to accommodate two large-cell lithium ion battery packs which employ chemistry similar to that used in mobile phones and laptop computers.  This chemistry is inherently safe; lithium is found in many medicinal applications and the batteries do not contain any heavy metals. 

Using a normal 220 Volt home outlet and Joule's onboard charger, it will take approximately seven hours to recharge Joule's battery for a 200km driving range, with two packs providing 400km in total. Joule's large battery bay is able to accommodate a number of different battery configurations from different suppliers, giving the customer the choice of performance and cost. 

''Studies show that 99 per cent of urban users drive less than 150km's a day and Optimal Energy recommends that only one battery pack is necessary to power Joule. Joule's value proposition is made more compelling when environmental influences such as increasing pollution and global warming phenomena caused by the rapid increase in urbanisation are also considered.''

Independent analysis of Eskom, the country's sole electricity provider, has confirmed that the South African grid has enough capacity to supply electrical energy to millions of cars without affecting its customer base or requiring any additional infrastructure.

Eskom has vast amounts of excess energy between 11 pm and 6 am (GMT +2); this will be the recommended recharging time.  Electric cars only require about 20 per cent of the energy that conventional cars require; this means that the total emissions are much less, even if Eskom's coal dominated electricity is used.  With the global trend of electricity generation becoming more renewable and cleaner, total emissions caused by electric cars will continue to shrink.

The South African Province of Gauteng is currently being evaluated for Joule's first assembly plant as it has the biggest cities and has expressed interest in placing the first fleet orders. Although supplier lists are not yet final, it is expected that the local content of Joule will be more than 50 percent.  Joule will be sold in all major South African centres; Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban and will be available towards the end of 2010.  Joule was developed for the international market and sales and exports will follow shortly after the South African launch.