Don't Be A Passenger | in 4 minutes the world will change

Whilst scientists and politicians may argue about priorities and the degree and timing to which climate change will impact on our and future generations, few will disagree that the 21st century faces unparalleled change. Decisions we make today as consumers will have major consequences on our future. We can choose to be ignorant and ill informed. The net result will be that we as individuals and as a collective have limited influence on affecting positive change. Alternatively, we can choose to get involved in positive initiatives which shape our future. Simply being informed is the first step in the right direction.

We have dedicated 4 minutes to telling our story. We have crafted a video which provides context to some of the inspiring efforts made by extraordinary South Africans who dared to think differently and had the courage to follow through and shape our future. Drawing on this inspiration, the founders of Optimal Energy made the decision to make a difference. Their plan is to introduce a new car powered by electricity which competes globally. On clean fuel, 0 omissions will be obtained and in the process, 10,000 jobs will be created. Ambitious as the project is, we are deeply committed to making it happen.

We have been overwhelmed by the initial response and positive interest in Joule. Dontbeapassenger.com is the social platform that we have chosen to communicate with you, our supporters and engage with anyone who is interested in our initiative. We are committed to providing the latest information about climate change, positive initiatives and progress made by all participants in the craft of designing and building electric vehicles. We will also provide our community with the latest information about Joule. As you can imagine, a project of this scale has its challenges and we look forward to conversing with you on our development journey and beyond. We also hope that dontbeapassenger.com will become a place where you can provide us with your views and opinions which will help us build the best electric car.

Please watch the video and should it resonate with you, please share it with your peers and friends. Furthermore, you can sign up to receive the latest updates and news. Of course your privacy will be protected and you can opt out at any stage should you wish to disengage. Our objective is to enlighten, inform and on occasion surprise you with regular updates about technology, green initiatives and project progress updates. There will also be a number of competitions and interactive features which you can engage with. Once you have signed up, an email will be sent with information about how best to interact with the website and community.

The primary objective of the video is to celebrate past achievements by South Africans, provide context to the case for electric vehicles and showcase our project as a proudly South African initiative.

We have endeavoured to ensure that all factual information and the calculations that follow are as accurate as possible and we would like to thank and credit the following sources:

3, 8 million matches are being struck – no stats are available

1140 people will undergo a cat scan

15000-transplanted hearts will beat, 4320 000 beautiful times

Adhesive just travelled 380 000km at more than 10 x the speed of a concord to the moon

60 people died in 2 world Wars

……85% of the once yellow fever victims are victims no more

http://www.who.int/vaccines/en/yellowfever.shtml

1 country voluntarily gave up its nuclear armament

While 6 patients are walking into the world’s largest hospital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hani_Baragwanath_Hospital#Daily_admissions

Keep walking and you can visit the homes of 2 Nobel Peace prizewinners

Look up 10 000 new stars just got discovered – no confirmed statistics

Swartkrans 1.0 million years ago First human use of fire

Alan Cormack, 1956 – 1964 Co–Invented the CAT scan

Christiaan Barnard, 1967 Performed the first heart transplant

Jan Smuts, 1918 & 1945 Only man to have signed both World War I and II peace treaties

South Africa, 1991 - 1993 The first and only country to voluntarily disarm nuclear weapons

http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/safrica/index.html

Max Theiler, 1937 Discovered Yellow fever vaccine

S.A.L.T, 2005 Largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere and equal to the largest in the world

http://www.salt.ac.za/public-info/milestones/inauguration/press-release/

While we try to ensure that all content provided is correct at the time of publication, no responsibility is accepted by or on behalf of Optimal Energy for any errors, omissions or inaccurate content on the website or video.