The small Indian carmaker behind the iconic G-Wiz is leading the electric car market
The small Indian carmaker behind the iconic G-Wiz is leading the electric car market
By Neil Jacques
At 2009’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the world’s foremost automobile preening bonanza, the buzz was literally electric. Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Citroen, Hyundai, Renault, Lexus, Peugeot, GM – virtually every major car manufacturer was electric vehicle (EV) evangelising in Frankfurt. In total, 43 of the 100 new models on show eschewed the pump for the socket.
Yet while the big guns at Frankfurt were flush with latent promise and gleaming intention, there was only one company in town that had already turned the electric dream into reality.
Reva Electric Car Company, based in Bangalore, India, is staffed by just 260 people. The company’s total funding to date is a mere $50m – peanuts in the automobile sphere. But it is the first, and currently the only, company in the world to successfully commercialise electric cars, including the G-Wiz, beloved of London’s green celebrities.
At the company’s helm is Chetan Maini, deputy chairman and chief technology officer, and one of India’s hottest business properties. He recently made 22nd place in Business Week’s list of the country’s top-50 most powerful people. “I want to make an impact on society,” Maini says. “I would love to pull up at a traffic light one day and, when the light is red, everything around you is quiet.”
Massive potential
Maybe his wish will come true. A recent study by leading research firm Frost & Sullivan reckons that by 2020 at least 15% of all new cars sold will be electric, while HIS Global Insight forecasts global production will shoot up from 9,500 in 2009 to 58,000 in 2011.
At 2009’s G8 conference, UK prime minister Gordon Brown was clearly keen to mitigate a transport sector responsible for 22% of Britain’s emissions – with 13% coming from privately owned tailpipes. He boldly announced that the UK would be at the forefront of a “green revolution”. By 2020 all new cars in Britain could be electric or hybrids, he suggested.
Already Reva’s first model is a cult hit in the UK. Known in the British market as G-Wiz, it is an anarchic, boxy little car designed exclusively for city use. Retailing at £7,000, the 2.6 m long, 1.6m high vehicle has a top speed of 50 mph and a maximum range on a single charge of 40 miles, though this drops by around 10 miles if you use the heater.
While it is exported to 24 countries across the world, the G-Wiz is particularly popular in London where it has been snapped up by over 1,000 eco-conscious, congestion charge avoiders. Granted, the 3,300 units sold worldwide since 2001 may not sound like much, but a cumulative 90m kilometres on the road is experiential gold dust in a sector historically riven with uncertainty.
It is no coincidence that G-Wiz fan and London mayor Boris Johnson has recently been pitching London as the “electrical car capital of the world”, and proclaiming progressive goals such as 25,000 electric car-charging points by 2015.
In financial terms Reva’s progress has been a slog – break-even has yet to occur – but with the times rapidly a-changing in the EV market, Reva is determined to up the ante. And last September, GM gave Reva’s know-how a vote of confidence by teaming up for a joint venture in the Indian market. “Their technology is second to none,” gushed Karl Slym, president and managing director of GM India.
The deal will also give Reva’s profile an almighty leg-up through granting access to 200 GM distribution centres across India. Already in 2010, the first fruits of the joint venture have emerged with the announcement of the E-Spark, an electric version of GM’s Chevrolet Spark model, produced in collaboration with Reva. E-Spark is due for launch in October.
Further momentum is expected later this year when Reva opens a new 30,000 per annum capacity production plant in Bangalore. “Never has everything come together so well,” Maini says.
He welcomes more players in the electric vehicle market. Striking out alone with new technology has been a lonely, frustrating experience at times. More product options and enhanced consumer awareness is exactly what the EV sector needs.
“When somebody walks into an electric car showroom they have no clue what they are getting into,” Maini suggests. “They don’t understand it, having never driven one before. There is a lot of education and experiencing that needs to happen to make people more comfortable.”
Reva’s unique manufacturing process consists of a running chassis platform that enables the car to move on its own wheels. The body is made from recyclable plastics and mounted on a steel platform – and 80% fewer components are used than in a traditional car.
Techie background
Technology has always been in Maini’s blood. Brought up by a well-to-do family in Bangalore, he was heavily influenced by his father, who runs Maini Group, an automotive parts company that would subsequently become joint owner of Reva with California-based electric vehicle component specialist Amerigon.
As a child Maini built radios, remote control cars and go-karts in a hobby-room that was bigger than his bedroom. Everything was done from scratch, with parts often supplied by his father’s company or associates.
His EV epiphany came in 1990 when, as a mechanical engineering student at the University of Michigan in the US, he built a solar-powered car with some friends. They entered it into a race from Florida to Michigan, and won. Duly impressed, GM sponsored the team to take part in the World Solar Challenge – a seven-day, 3,000 km-long race across Australia. Embarrassing the R&D might of a clutch of household names, they finished third, hot on the heels of Japanese technology wizards Honda.
“I thought ‘wow, this could be something really big’,” Maini recalls.
Research investment
The first Reva vehicle rolled off the production line in 2001, after a seven year R&D marathon. Maini hadn’t wasted any time. Ten patents were acquired, an energy management system – known as the car’s brain – was built from scratch. Nifty innovations like the world’s first remote-controlled pre-cooling air conditioning system were realised.
If Reva’s off-kilter charm has held it back to date, its next generation of cars are far more likely to reach a wider audience.
A little smaller than a Mini Cooper, the new Reva NXR is a three-door, four-seater lithium-ion battery-powered hatchback that can hit speeds of 65mph and has a range of 100 miles per charge. Full charging is eight hours, but a 15-minute fast charge option will provide juice for 25 miles.
What’s more, if the driver becomes stranded they can simply punch in an emergency number and advanced telematics will provide a power boost to last until a chargepoint is reached. Prices will vary across Europe, but it is likely to be around the €15,000 mark, which is competitive and tempting for EV virgins.
Next year’s NXG will up the stakes again with a top speed of 80mph and a range of 125 miles per charge.
Performance-wise, Maini is still biding his time, making sure they get things absolutely right – particularly with the pricing. “We can make an electric car go 200km [125 miles], these are easy things to do,” he explains. “The question is can we make electric vehicles that can be affordable, make an impact on society and make a business out of it?”
And, perhaps more importantly, can Reva continue to compete once the big car companies jump in? The company’s progress so far suggests that they just might.
Celebrity G-wizzers
- Kristin Scott-Thomas
- Jonathan Ross
- Jade Jagger
- Jerry Hall
- Joanna Page
REVA’s greatest hits
- First to successfully commercialise EVs on a multi-country basis.
- First to develop all key EV technologies in-house.
- First to introduce telematics.
- First to introduce fast charging.