The Indian-made REVAi now available in India
The Reva Electric Car Company has officially made the REVAi (A.K.A. the G-Wiz i) available for sale in its native India. It has high expectations for sales of the improved award winner in its homeland, saying they would be very happy to sell 3,000 vehicles in Delhi this year. No doubt, since it has only sold 2,500 units so far in 13 other countries. They expect and are preparing for a sharp increase in demand as the company plans on quintupling its production capacity from its current 6,000 units per annum to 30,000 by the end of this year, although it may actually take a full three years to ramp up to those output numbers.
Besides not having an expensive-to-fill gas tank, REVAi sales may also benefit from several tax incentives. There is a 15 percent subsidy on the base price, it's exempt from a 12.5 percent value added tax (VAT), and, in Delhi, it gets a refund of a road tax and registration fees. After all the discounts, Indians are looking at a base price of Rs299,000 (US$7,000) for the 50 mph capable, 80 mile ranging (50 miles with the A/C) vehicle. Future plans include adding a new model and new model variant in each of the coming years and possibly the creation of something a bit bigger.
[Source: Automotive World]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Manu Sharma 1:59AM (6/27/2008)
Still too expensive. Although running costs are dramatically lower,* it's worth pointing out that it's essentially a 2-seater. Their claim of a 4 persons payload doesn't really hold as the rear seats are only comfortable for kids.
* According to their ad, a person travelling 40km [25 mi] every day in a regular car would save Rs.4500 [$105] every month by switching to Reva. However, this does not take the cost of changing the lead-acid batteries every few years.
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hemantuchil 10:28AM (6/27/2008)
Correction- The Revai was available in India many months back. It was recently "launched" in Delhi with relevant tax exemptions for purchase in Delhi city. There are many Revai cars on Pune & Bangalore roads, albeit without tax exemptions.
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Domenick Yoney 4:44PM (6/27/2008)
According to our source, it seems it was the original version of this that has been previously sold in India. Reva "...has launched its REVAi two-seater hatchback, a revised version of the two-seater it has sold in India and other markets for some years."
If you have a source which makes your point, please share.
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Jeff 4:11PM (10/13/2008)
I was in Bangalore back in April 2008 and saw a number of Reva i's on the road. They also first shipped to the UK in February 2008.
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