Several prototypes of Joule are already on the road, and the car will be available for sale to the public end of 2012.

Integrated platform offers streamlined global collaboration and allows for sustainable business.

Paris – Dassault Systèmes (DS) has announced that Optimal Energy, South African car manufacturer, will develop Joule, Africa’s first battery-powered vehicle, with the DS V6 solutions.

Optimal Energy will rely on Dassault Systèmes CATIA and ENOVIA V6 for product design and data management. With the objective to transform the face of the urban transportation landscape with a dynamic, “real world” electric vehicle, Joule boasts ample room space, a top speed of 135 km/h and a nominal range of 300km on a single charge.

“There are not many electric cars on the market at the moment, but most of the concepts that have been seen are quite small cars,” says Anton Greeff, Chief Mechanical Engineer, Optimal Energy. “Ours is built to be an urban driving solution that’s comfortable with a distinctive and attractive design.” Several prototypes of Joule are already on the road, and the car will be available for sale to the public end of 2012.

Optimal Energy chose to adopt the DS solutions in order to benefit from the technical capabilities of an OEM, which has built its experience over many decades, in a short amount of time. “Perfectly targeted toward the automotive market, the DS solutions have sped up our learning curve tremendously,” says Greeff.

With many of Optimal Energy’s automotive suppliers and system developers based in Europe or the Far East, the company chose ENOVIA V6’s integrated collaboration platform to provide all actors with an access to a single version of the truth, from initial requirements to production.

“Everything is in the same platform and interconnected. If someone needs information on the product, there is only one place they have to go and look,” says Anton Greeff.

Joule boasts ample room space, a top speed of 135 km/h and a nominal range of 300km on a single charge.

“Using 3DLIVE to communicate visually with those responsible for building the car and not having to travel back and forth constantly to see the model on a CAD station is very important for us,” says Jako von Molendorff, Configuration Manager, Optimal Energy.

“As a young company, Optimal Energy needed to make a strong impression in a market already dominated by car manufacturing veterans. That Optimal Energy chose V6 to express its fervent commitment to protect the environment as well as its desire to build a car that is truly an alternative to most electric vehicles on the market today is something we are very pleased with,” says  Laurent Couillard, vice president PLM value selling EMEA, Dassault Systèmes.

For more information visit www.optimalenergy.co.za and www.3ds.com