GM India is taking things seriously when it comes to its electric car on the pipe-line, Spark. As reported earlier GM has tied-up with India’s only electric car maker Reva to provide the electric technological backing for making the Spark electric variant. GM has gone few more steps to make its Greener vision more real.

Quoting the words of Mr. Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, GM India

“We already have a joint venture with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) for servicing our vehicles at some places, which can be replicated”, “For the success of the battery-run car, electric charging stations on roads and highways are a must”.

From this we can expect GM to strike a deal with BPCL to set up electric recharging units for electric cars at BPCL’s bunks, if that happens it would be a break through which pave way for zero-emission personal transportation.

Mr. Kark Slym also said that “We are going to manufacture not in hundreds but in thousands the electric car we would be launching next year,” GM India not stopping its Green theme here, it has an Aveo-CNG on the working for India.

After Audi of America’s president Johan de Nysschen confirmed that they are working on a Tesla Roadster rival, Auto Express has put together a rendering of the car under development.

This new Audi has been named R4 as in half of what an R8 is. The R4 will get the drive train from the Frankfurt fame R8 e-tron concept. 4 electric motors powered by lithium-ion batteries will power the R4. Two motors to each axle makes it a 4-wheel drive, the way Audi likes it.

The R4 is expected to have a power out put of 300bhp with a mammoth electric torque of 4500Nm, which will push the car to 60mph from stationary in under 4.8seconds. The top speed is 140mph which is the top of the line for any electric. It promises a range of 155 miles per charge. The car comes in both coupe and drop-top versions.

If you aren’t an electric person like Clarkson, Audi is also making a petrol version.

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GM India and Reva finally strike a deal. The speculation has been around for a while now and it has been made official. According to the deal GM India and Reva will jointly make electric versions of the GM’s small cars starting with Spark. U-VA and GM’s yet to be launched small car beat will also benefit from the deal.

The first EV from GM will seen the sun in 2010. It will have options of both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. The lead-acid batteries are the conventional one with a range of 80kms. The lithium-ions are expensive with a longer range of 120kms. The lithium-ion battery version of the cars will be twice as expensive as the petrol variants as the battery itself costs 3Lakh rupees and it has to be imported.

GM India’s platform will be used by Reva to install its electric technology in to the car for which GM pays a royalty fee to Reva. Both the firms have strong backing of the Indian Government, since this promotes the step towards zero-emission personal transportation.

When Karl Slym, President and Managing Director of GM India spoke “Electric car technology is fast growing in the domestic market, primarily due to government support, by this agreement signed today, we hope to get the first mover advantage in the consumer’s minds”

Chetan Maini, Deputy Chairman and Chief technology officer of Reva said that they have been approached by other companies for a similar deal but “Nothing has been finalized”.

Reva launched its two new EVs at Frankfurt. We already brought you the info on the cars which you can read here. What’s new this time around is the meaning of the names NXR and NXG and the pricing. NXR means “NeXt Reva” and NXG stands for “NeXt Generation”.

Both the cars have two different battery choices Lithium-ion batteries or Lead-acid batteries. Reva also gives customers the choice of paying for both the car and the battery during purchase or just paying for the car during purchase and pay a monthly rent for the battery.

The NXR with Lithium-ion battery will cost 14,995 Euros which comes to an equivalent of Rs. 12 lakhs. The NXR with lead-acid battery costs 9,995 Euros which comes to an equivalent of Rs. 8Lakh. Both these prices don’t include the price of the batteries and the customer has to pay Reva a monthly rent for the battery.

The NXG will cost 23,000 Euro which comes to an equivalent of Rs. 18.4Lakh. NXG will be on sale from 2011 while the NXR will be available from 2010. We reckon both the cars will be a bit cheaper in India with reduced luxuries. Reva will announce the Indian prices in January 2010. The cars can be ordered at Reva’s new website www.revaglobal.com by paying a refundable fee of 500 Euros.

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PRESS RELEASE

THE NEW REVA NXR – AN ELECTRIC CAR THAT CAN BE ORDERED TODAY

Wednesday September 16th 2009, 63rd Frankfurt International Motor Show (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung): Today sees the world launch of the REVA NXR (NeXt Reva), a new lithium-ion powered electric car from REVA Electric Car Company (REVA), which is scheduled to go into production early 2010. Also being unveiled for the first time is REVA’s showcar, the REVA NXG (NeXt Generation), which is the company’s 2011 model.

REVA NXR is a M1 category three-door, four-seater hatchback family car that is suitable for urban driving. Top speed is 104 kph (65 mph) with a range of 160 km (100 miles) per charge. If using the 90 minute fast charge (normal charging is eight hours), the REVA NXR offers an effective range of 320 km a day. A fast charge for 15 minutes will provide a 40 km (25 mile) range.

The REVA NXR has keyless entry and operation, dual charge ports, intelligent digital display and a range of telematics. These include SMS alerts and commands such as distance-to-empty and time-to-full charge, remote cabin heat/cool, a monthly eco-drive check by email, service and insurance alerts, remote diagnostics and healing and REVive remote emergency charge. REVive is exclusive to REVA and acts like an invisible reserve fuel tank and addresses ‘range anxiety’. If a customer runs out of charge, they can telephone or SMS REVA’s customer support centre. The advanced telematics feature will assess the car’s batteries remotely and activate a reserve amount of energy while protecting the battery life. Within minutes, a few extra kilometres of range are made available via the telematics and the driver can continue home or to a place where the NXR can be charged.

Prices of the NXR will vary across Europe and India depending on taxes and subsidies. Customers will be offered the option of purchasing the car and batteries separately, or at an all-inclusive price. If bought separately, the benefit will be a lower purchase price, with the batteries paid for on a monthly basis – just like petrol – as part of a monthly mobility fee, which could also include electricity, telematics and other services. Average prices in Europe, excluding batteries, will be around 14,995 euros for the lithium-ion NXR Intercity version. The REVA NXR City, with lead acid batteries that has an 80 km (50 mile) range and a speed of 80 kph (50 mph) is also available from 9,995 euros and a small monthly mobility fee. The prices of the REVA NXR for India will be announced in January 2010.

Unveiling the new cars today, Chetan Maini, deputy chairman and chief technology officer of REVA said; “The NXR is a stylish city car packed full of user-friendly technology. You can order one from today and production will start early next year, so you can be one of the first to own the latest generation of electric cars.”

Styled by Dilip Chhabria, the REVA NXG is a M1 category, two-door, two-seater car with a targa top. The REVA NXG has a range of 200km (125 miles) per charge and a top speed of 130 kph (80 miles per hour). It features the same telematics as the REVA NXR, including REVive and, using the fast charge, it has an effective range of 400 kms (250 miles) a day. This showcar, the REVA NXG, is REVA’s 2011 model and its first showing is at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA). Pricing in Europe excluding batteries is from 23,000 euros plus a monthly mobility fee. The prices of the REVA NXG for India will be announced in January 2010.

REVA is committed to mitigating climate change with the creation of ultra low carbon cars – it has only ever made EVs. Every REVA NXR and REVA NXG will be Born Green, meaning they will have one of the lowest dust-to-dirt carbon footprints of any car in mass production. The REVA NXR has been designed to use approximately 80% fewer parts than a conventional or hybrid car and will be assembled in REVA’s new ultra low-carbon assembly plant in Bangalore powered by solar energy and using natural light and ventilation and rainwater harvesting. Preparations have begun to create a ‘second life’ for the lithium batteries to optimise energy efficiency and reduce the cost to consumers via the creation of guaranteed residual values. From 2010 REVA will publish the carbon emissions for the assembly and lifetime operation of both these new cars and by this environmental disclosure, customers can make an informed buying decision.

REVA’s new website, www.revaglobal.com, launches the same time as the new cars and customers can register their interest in either vehicle on the online priority list from today by paying a refundable 500 euro fee.

REVA – Hall 8, Stand D38
63rd Frankfurt International Motor Show (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung), 15 -27 September 2009.
Open to the public 19th to 27th September.

For further information please contact reva@the-practice.net
Vidhya Arvind +91 80 2520 3757/8/9
For images please visit the press site at www.revaglobal.com

Notes to Editors:
1. REVA is the brand of the Reva Electric Car Company, a Bangalore-based company formed as a joint venture between Maini Group of India and AEV LLC of California and backed by US investors Global Environment Fund and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Today, REVA is selling, or being test marketed, in 24 countries worldwide and has the largest deployed fleet of electric cars on the market with over 3,000 EVs on the road and more than 70 million kilometres of user experience.
2. REVA’s business model includes: electric vehicle design, development and manufacture, electric vehicle technology licensing and electric vehicle manufacturing franchising. REVA develops all key technologies including energy management, fast-charge and telematics systems in-house.
3. Currently, REVA has company owned showrooms in Bangalore and Delhi. REVA is expanding its network in India and will be present in 25 cities across the country by Jan 2010.
4. European distribution is in the following countries: Norway, UK, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Hungary, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece with other distributors being appointed over the next few months.
5. The company is building a new ultra low carbon vehicle assembly plant in Bangalore, with a capacity of 30,000 units per annum, to accommodate increased production and is planning to introduce even more measures to ensure that it has the cleanest and greenest production.
6. ‘Dust-to-dirt’ is a term used for the complete lifecycle of a car from the carbon emissions generated in the parts manufacture, assembly, operation and disposal / recycling of a REVA electric car. This is a commitment and the beginning of the process that will take time to determine, starting with the assembly and operation and then extending down the supply chain to tier 1 suppliers and up to second life / end of life.
7. For fleets and institutions wishing to place early confirmed orders with a view to obtaining subsidies, REVA will provide an all-in price including car and batteries on a cash or lease basis.
8. REVA electric cars have no tailpipe emissions. The amount of C02 per km varies depending on a country’s electricity generation method. When charged with renewable energy, REVA vehicles are zero emissions.
9. REVive addresses ‘range anxiety’. The amount of reserve energy in a battery depends on several parameters including the temperature, usage (that day and historically) and the age of the batteries. The REVA support centre assesses information from the car via telematics (information and communication technology) to calculate the amount of reserve energy available for that particular car. Then, within a few minutes the digital display will indicate ‘Revive’ and the ‘distance to empty’ gauge will display the additional amount of range available and the driver can continue their journey.

Hyundai launched an electric version of the i10 in Korea. This i10 will be powered by a 49Kw electric motor and a 1Kw lithium-ion polymer battery which will push the i10 electric to a top speed of 120kmph and an acceleration of 0-100kmph in 15 seconds.

The i10 electric will have a range of 150kms on a single charge. The party piece of the i10 electric is how quickly it gets charged, the battery can be charged to 85% capacity in 15 minutes. Full charging will take up to 5 hours. This is attributed to the lithium-ion polymer battery which offers a weight drop of 30%, volume drop of 40% and efficiency boost of 12% compared to nickel batteries.

Everything looks bright until we arrive at the cost factor. The battery unit in the i10 electric itself costs Rs. 6lakh, which is more than the price of a basic i10. Hyundai sees electric as the future and due to the recent introduction of tax incentives from electric cars in Seoul Hyundai developed this variant.

However due to the heavy price of the battery, it is going to be on lease. The full fledged production of the i10 will start in 2012. From the looks of it, it is going to be one for the future and also not a one for India.

Reva is one of the most serious electric car makers in the world and it is likely to be taken more seriously at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. Reva is planning to unveil two new models in Frankfurt. They are name Reva NXR and Reva NXG.

The NXR will be a four-seat, two-door hatchback family car which runs on lead-acid battery. It is expected to have a range of 80kms per charge and a top speed of 80 Kmph. Production will start at the beginning of 2011 at Reva’s new Green manufacturing plant in Bangalore. NXR can be booked at the Reva display station at the Motor show.

Reva has a different version of the NXR for the international market. This NXR will run on a Lithium Ion battery and will have a top speed of 104 Kmph and a range of 160 kms on a full charge.

The more interesting of the two is the NXG, which is designed under the supervision of India’s car Designing Legend Dilip Chhabria, the man who designed the super hype AmbiRod. The NXG will be a sportier two-seater with a Tagra (removable) roof. The production of the NXG will commence from 2011.

Both these two new models will have something called the REVive technology, Reva boasts big about this technology and its uniqueness. What it does is acts as an invisible reserve tank. When a customer runs out of charge in his Reva he/she can call the 24/7 customer care at Reva and the reserve charge will be activated remotely. This will just be enough to get the car back home.

Both the cars look exceptionally good compared to the current Reva design and if priced right they might just change the whole game.

News today is carrying a bit of a green flavor, after M&M scorched the “World Hydrogen Technologies Convention” with its Hy-Alfas, comes news about tiny REVA…that its not so tiny anymore. REVA is in the process of building the world’s largest electric car manufacturing plant in Bangalore, India with an annual capacity of, wait for it, 30,000 cars. That is a huge number for what is essentially a niche vehicle with a small but dedicated customer-base. The world’s largest electric car manufacturer (that’s right!) REVA, marketed as G-WIZ in the UK and elsewhere outside India has been seeing a surge in demand the last few years and this is their answer to avoid any Prius-like supply & demand issues.

REVA also intends to carry the green theme all the way through the plant and not just focus on making a green car. The plant will have rain water harvesting, solar power tapping natural light ventilation and a CO2 monitor as well. The employees will be ferried in and out in all-electric buses and be entertained in a games room (not sure if its ‘green’ themed one though). Love it or hate it, one has to admire REVA’s vision and spunk to put up with the big boys of the auto world. Here’s wishing little REVA…oops! Freaking huge REVA all the best.