Revving Up!!!

You will agree that the Reva G-Wiz isn't the prettiest car to look at. Infact, it could be one of the ugliest you have ever seen. The fact is that it is the highest selling electic car in the history of automobiles and it is Indian. The Reva is manufactured by a company called Maini in Bangalore (Must be some ulti studdax company run by nerds who don't care much about spending time or money on the car design). They are mostly exported to Europe, where they are a hit with environmentalists and pseudo environmentalists.


Vital Stats (Taken from Wikipedia)

Length:	2.6 m
Width:	1.3 m
Height:	1.5 m
Range	80 km
Maximum Speed	70 km/hr
Seating	Two adults and two children

Although the figures show a maximum speed of 70 km/hr most Revas will never live to see the magical figure. Revas are intended for city use not for highway, so there is no need for a high performance engine (motor in this case). But, what about seating capacity? Anybody who has taken one look at the pic will know that it can barely carry a single middle aged woman. So, if you are buying a Reva for the whole family, it is better that you go for a conventional gas guzzling car. So, by now you would have realized that it is absolutely impractical to use. It can take up to 8 hours to charge and would only last about 1 1/2 hours. If you are still insistent on reducing your carbon footprint, then I suggest you go for a Toyota Prius.

Reading this you might think why I picked this car. Well, because an important event happened in Reva's career. See, when it was exported to Europe, the guys at Maini did not know that there was such a thing called crash tests that had to be conducted before a vehicle went into production. Since, it was an electric car or quadricycle as they are called in the west, it was exempted from most of these tests. But some chap in England reported that the car had serious safety issues. A test was conducted by the UK Department of Transport at a constant speed of 40 km/hr (that is the normal speed in a city). To their horror they found that the car splintered into pieces upon collision. The guy/gal sitting in the car would be dead meat for sure. The car seem to be made out of thermocol and plastic. The door panels and the front hood fly in the air once the car is hit. The driver (presumably dead by then) becomes a projectile with or without the seat belt. They found out that most cycles have more safety features than this car. Once cars pass the test they are given a score of stars on the scale of 5 stars. Most cars get 3 stars while some cars get 4 (like Saab, Renault Espace,etc). The UK department of Transport found it hard to give this car even a one star, because it just doesn't deserve anything.

Here is the video of the crash test (Warning: Viewer Discretion is advised)

Outcomes? The car is exempted from all crash tests, so Maini can continue selling their cars in UK. Hmm...It remains to be seen how many people will continue to buy the car knowing that it has failed the tests in every criteria. Warning to pedestrians: You will cause more damage to the car than the car to you, so please keep you distance as a Reva zips (like it will :D) past you. The driver of the car might take you to the court for damaging his/her car. People still enthusiatic about the car can pay a visit or a homage to: www.revaindia.com or search on Google for more info.

Well, so much for going green!

[The writer has nothing against hybrid or electric cars, but wrote this article in the interest of public safety. The writer strongly supports all activities intended at protecting the Earth and the wildlife.]