Will the Mahindra Reva be a practical car?

CarToq Community Member Christin Emmanuel George asked if the Mahindra Reva NXR be fit for daily commutes or whether it will be another electric car with limitations? Read on to find out.

CarToq Expert Aravindhan said, “For daily commutes covering less than 160 Kms or so, the Reva NXR will likely not cause any trouble. The Reva NXR will have two power options: a lead-acid battery with 80 km range/80 Kmph top speed and a lithium ion battery 160 km range/ 104 Kmph top speed.

Another CarToq Expert Babychen Mathew said that for short driving distances the Reva is definitely capable. CarToq Expert Roshun Povaiah said, “For instance in a city like Bangalore where daily commutes are not more than 30 km both ways, the Reva NXR is an ideal car. No pollution. Low running cost.”

You can see the question here: Will the Reva NXR be fit for daily commutes or will it be another electric car with limitations?

Now the Reva NXR will likely be launched in two variants; one with a lead-acid battery with a range of 80 Kms per charge and a maximum speed of 80 Kmph and the other with a lithium ion battery variant. The range of the lithium ion battery powered Reva will be 160 km per charge and its top speed will be 104 Kmph. Now that makes at least the Lithium ion battery powered version pretty practical! As long as you are in the city you will hardly ever be on a road that legally allows you to drive at speeds of over 100 Kmph. Also most people use their cars to drive to work and back which is usually a round trip of under 100 Kms, which means you will still have enough charge for 60 more kilometres. Also read: Mahindra Reva NXR electric car video review: Live from Auto Expo 2012

However both the cars will require an eight hour charging period to get completely charged using a standard household outlet. The Reva is expected to come with: AC, power windows, power steering, a 12 V power socket and an audio player. The car will feature the new Revive technology that acts like a reserve fuel tank, if the drivers run out of charge.

Further with an expected price tag of around Rs. 6 lakh not taking into account government subsidies on the electric cars (which may reduce its price substantially), the Reva NXR will also be an affordable car. Mahindra & Mahindra are on the final stages of development and the Reva should be launched around September 2012. What do you think about the Reva? Share your views in the comments section below.