Raving About REVA!!!
The REVA electric car was launched in June 2001 in Bangalore, India. The REVA is a battery electric vehicle designed for low speed, congested urban roads. An electric car is an alternative fuel car that uses electric motors and motor controllers instead of an internal combustion engine (ICE). The Reva was designed in California and is manufactured by the REVA Electric Car Company. The RECC is currently the largest manufacturer of on-road electric vehicles globally.
The REVA is a two-door hatchback, which can comfortably seat two adults and two minors, most ideal for an average indian nuclear family. It is a fully-automatic (no clutch- no gears) car, with a small turning radius of just 3.5 metres, making it ideal for driving in congested city roads. The REVA runs on batteries, and as opposed to other electric vehicles, has an onboard charger to facilitate easy charging. Charging the car is thus, as simple as charging a mobile phone.
The car can be charged in two modes. A full battery charge takes less than seven hours and would fuel the car for 80 km. In quick-charge mode(two-and-a-half hours), 80% charge is attained, good enough for 65km. The auto cut-off mechanism ensures that the user need not worry about over-charging or any other issues. Charging can be carried out by plugging into any 15 Amp socket and the Reva vehicles can thus be charged using a standard household outlet.
The REVA is currently commercialized in India, in the UK (since 2003), and in several other European countries (including Cyprus and Greece, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Norway, and Malta). At the moment, there are three versions of the REVA available - Standard, A/C and Classe. However, the REVa doesn’t set very high safety-standards and is thus, classified as a quadricycle or an NEV (Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle) in most countries, with a reduced top-speed.
There is, however, a newer version of the REVA called the REVAi, which is a much improved car and which could pass the safety standard tests. This new model can run at 80 km per hour as opposed to 65 km per hour for the earlier version. The 0-40 acceleration now stands at 7 seconds, as against 10 seconds earlier. The capacity of it’s torque has been increased as well, making the car better equipped to tackle small slopes and enabling quicker acceleration. The REVAi can thus be used not just for commuting in the city, but also for the weekend picnic out into the woods.
Being an electric car, the REVA is a “green car”, meaning that it would create 0% pollution. The car is priced on the higher side though, with the REVA Standard priced at 3.65 lakhs. The arguement put-up in defense of the REVA is that the running cost of the car is very low and would win the owner a lot of savings in the matter of a few years. Running the REVA could cost as little as 40 paise/km, making it’s operation cheaper than that for an average two-wheeler. However, with the launch of Tata’s small car priced for a mere 1 lakh rupees, the RECC is in for some tougher times. Still, there is no denying the fact that electric cars and hybrid cars is the way forward, with the fuel crisis that we could face in the coming future.
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