Maini group have a headstart in atleast one field – electric cars. They weren’t the first, but sometimes when all things, including market conditions fall into place, you have a good product. In contrast if fuel had remained below 20 bucks without concerns of global warming, would we have cared?
At the outset, let me inform you that I have not ridden it as an owner, but as a co-passenger and I was pretty impressed. The car is a mini version of a small car even with its ugliness. It’s enough for city driving and easily disappears between traffic. We have hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius which are a combination of electricity and gasoline.(Expected to reach India in 2 years) There are other hybrid cars currently which are a combination of two fossil fuels - gasoline and CNG(Wagon R, Santro, mandatory for autos) But with the muscle Toyota has got, can Maini survive?
If I were Maini, however, there is one obviously glaring miss in their innovations department. If you have a car which uses electricity for running in tropical climates, then you can also use solar to recharge the car when parked. It is not that such cars have not been made. There have been such solar powered cars which have been tested on an experimental basis in Australia.
A combination of power+ solar would make awesome sense in regions where solar is abundant including tropical countries like India. Reasoning - Currently we have the new Reva with a range of 80 kms in the normal recharge(8 hours) and a quick charge(of 2.5 hours) can take you upto 65 kms. The harder you press the accelerator, the range of the car decreases. Most of us would love to buy the car, but hate the very short range. Besides, you wait till you reach home to recharge it. What happens in emergencies? There should be a way to extend the charge when we take it to office. For ex., when I park it, I would love to see it getting recharged. That way, I not only save on power expenses, but it would also increase my range by that much. If I take it to office, it would be parked for 9 hours at least. That means a full recharge. Imagine a busy road with about 8000 cars. Even if half of them were Reva’s, splendid! They can easily use the two solar plates which BEL uses for solar lamps by increasing the roof area of the car(like an estate) and providing protection so that it can’t be stolen. Atleast it would reduce my fuel bills during the summer. If you think that’s difficult, then so is making the car.
Oh! BTW, anyone want a car under 3000 bucks? Go buy the Dolphin or the Montana!