Automobile future electrifies Winstone Jordaan
by Katy Chance,
2015-06-17 06:23:22.0
WINSTONE Jordaan studied physics and maths, and dreamed of working for Nasa after doing some contract work for the US space agency.
After a brief sojourn to the US where he worked at software firms — one of which, he grins, was developing a flying car — he decided e-vehicles were the future.
Realising there were not enough people in SA who knew enough about the technology, he found an event in Australia that changed everything: the World Solar Challenge in which solar-powered cars race across Australia. In his typical "can do" manner, Jordaan brought the event to SA in 2008, and it has been held every two years since then as the Sasol Solar Challenge.
"We now have thousands of young people who have a solid understanding of efficiency, battery technology, of motors, controllers, solar systems, which is exactly the technology I was looking for," he says.
Which is just as well, because the future is about technology.
Former BMW Group SA iManager Deena Govender says society, both locally and globally, is undergoing dramatic and rapid change.
"Urbanisation and globalisation, dwindling natural resources, increasing carbon constraints and the like, will force a convergence between the mobility, energy, ICT (information and communications technology) and built-environment industries that has not been seen before.
"There is no doubt that the future of the automobile is electric, connected and shared. The sooner we adapt our technical infrastructure and business and legislative practices to accommodate this new future, the better," he says.
The e-Mobility industry is going to become much more socially driven. "I look at Facebook and Twitter, and social cohesion systems are going to be increasingly important.
"People will ask of their vehicles if it’s flexible, if it is cheap, safe, how usable is it — not how much it costs or how cool I will look owning one?"
Jordaan also believes in a future of driverless cars. "We already have the technology to prevent crashes and let a car assess situations faster and more accurately than humans."
But as he takes me for a spin, careening around the car park in the EVE electric commuter prototype, I think it will take a lot to wrestle him from the wheel.
GridCars owner Winstone Jordaan at the company's workshop in Pretoria. Picture: FREDDY MAVUNDA
WINSTONE Jordaan studied physics and maths, and dreamed of working for Nasa after doing some contract work for the US space agency.
After a brief sojourn to the US where he worked at software firms — one of which, he grins, was developing a flying car — he decided e-vehicles were the future.
Realising there were not enough people in SA who knew enough about the technology, he found an event in Australia that changed everything: the World Solar Challenge in which solar-powered cars race across Australia. In his typical "can do" manner, Jordaan brought the event to SA in 2008, and it has been held every two years since then as the Sasol Solar Challenge.
"We now have thousands of young people who have a solid understanding of efficiency, battery technology, of motors, controllers, solar systems, which is exactly the technology I was looking for," he says.
Which is just as well, because the future is about technology.
Former BMW Group SA iManager Deena Govender says society, both locally and globally, is undergoing dramatic and rapid change.
"Urbanisation and globalisation, dwindling natural resources, increasing carbon constraints and the like, will force a convergence between the mobility, energy, ICT (information and communications technology) and built-environment industries that has not been seen before.
"There is no doubt that the future of the automobile is electric, connected and shared. The sooner we adapt our technical infrastructure and business and legislative practices to accommodate this new future, the better," he says.
The e-Mobility industry is going to become much more socially driven. "I look at Facebook and Twitter, and social cohesion systems are going to be increasingly important.
"People will ask of their vehicles if it’s flexible, if it is cheap, safe, how usable is it — not how much it costs or how cool I will look owning one?"
Jordaan also believes in a future of driverless cars. "We already have the technology to prevent crashes and let a car assess situations faster and more accurately than humans."
But as he takes me for a spin, careening around the car park in the EVE electric commuter prototype, I think it will take a lot to wrestle him from the wheel.
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