Even though word slipped out early about their upcoming all-electric car appearing at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, Optimal Energy played its cards pretty close to its chest and kept their web presence on the down low. Now that the world has been officially introduced to the MPV-sized Joule, the South African company has completely redone its website so we can now better examine their creation and learn more of its features. They have also released video of the car's presentation to a select audience in South Africa that preceded its European debut, complete with short speeches and lots of footage covering every angle of the six-seater.

So, what interesting information might be gleaned from the new website that we haven't already learned? Well, besides pics and short bios of the top folks at the 70-strong-and-growing company, we found some juicy technical details about the car itself. For instance, it will have two available powertrains. One follows the more traditional approach and features an asynchronous permanent magnet motor powering the front wheels through an 8:1 reduction gearbox. The other option moves the motors into the wheels themselves and so can allow for rear or four wheel drive. Sounds good, no? Now if only there was an American auto-maker currently without any EV plans who might be able to speed this cars arrival to the American market. Video after the jump.



[Source: Optimal Energy]

Click image for a gallery of the BYD e6

Unfortunately, the arrival of the Beijing Motor Show didn't bring much new information regarding the BYD e6 electric MPV concept, but there's still news to report. The tech spec sheet displayed with the car indicates that it's (theoretically?) got motors for both the front and rear axles. Autoblog Chinese did a walkaround of the green people mover on the floor, taking pictures of the exterior from every angle. BYD thoughtfully accessorized the e6 with a cute model to boot, and as you'll see in the attached gallery, she and her male counterpart positioned on the other side of the car help illustrate the size of the five-seat MPV. As we reported during the runup to the show, the all-electric e6 is said to have a 300-kilometer operating range on a full charge and could possibly go into production within the next two years, according to BYD Auto.


[Source: Autoblog Chinese]