South Africa's Joule electric car to bow in Paris

Optimal Energy

Electric cars. South Africa. Frankly, it's not as if one immediately makes me think of the other.

That could change, however. The Paris Motor Show officially opened to the media on Thursday, and Cape Town-based Optimal Energy is showing off a new EV that it hopes to market in South Africa come 2010. (Who isn't aiming to have an EV out in 2010?)

Dubbed the Joule, the six-passenger car's part-boxy, part-swoopy bodywork was penned by Keith Helfet, who also designed the not-very-green but very, very awesome Jaguar XJ220.

The Joule can carry a pair of lithium-ion battery packs and be charged via a 220v household outlet. Standard operating range is 200 km (124 miles) on a single battery, but it's expandable to double that number if the optional second battery is added.

The car's powertrain setup uses three electric motors -- one for the front axle and one each in the rear wheels. This allows the Joule to be operated as a front-, rear- or all-wheel drive vehicle. Top speed is around 83 mph.

Innovative, neat, and practical -- it's a very likeable package.

Alex Nunez is Associate Editor of Autoblog.com. His blog posts are provided by LifeWire, a part of The New York Times Company.