GM goes electric in India

After a rather long break, I resume my coverage of the looming electrification of individual mobility.

Within the next 10 to 20 years, electrically-powered vehicles will slowly but gradually replace cars with combustion engines. Completely new mobility concepts will change the way we commute, visit relatives and friends and do our daily shopping.

Indubitably, electric cars are not THE SOLUTION to climate change, but….

cars with an electric motor using any kind of energy storage (battries, compressed air, hydrogen fuel cells, ….) media help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, safe a lot of energy as the overall efficiency of an electric car (including charging inefficiencies) use more of the original energy to move the car than combustion engines which usually use less than a quarter of the energy included in the gasoline to move the car; and help to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel importsfrom politically unstable regions. There are plenty of ways - both green and dirty - to generate electricity to run an electric car, but there is just one way to power a conventional car: dirty gasoline emitting greenhouse gases when burnt and funding petrodictators around the world.

General Motors, the once biggest carmaker in the world whose demise is closely linked to a lack of innovation and ignorance regarding long-term changes in energy supplies and demand, is now teaming up with the Indian electric car maker REVA in order to bring small electric cars to the Indian market. GM India and REVA Electric Car Co. announced that they will jointly develop an electric version of the Chevrolet Spark.

Using the platform from GM and the electric drivetrain and energy management system from REVA, sales should start within a year.

REVA was founded by Chetan Maini who - as a University of Michigan student - developed a solar powered car to participate in the 1990 World Solar Challenge, a 3000 km, 7-day race across Australia. They formed an Indo-U.S. electric car company which has become one of the most experienced electric car developers in the world with the largest deployed fleet of EVs worldwide. The company has shown great concern for the environment since the beginning and draws a lot of energy, creativity and enthusiasm from the noble mission of fighting climate change.

For General Motors this step is meant to gain a bigger share of the Indian car market in the long term and also to gain more experience with electric propulsion systems. Electric cars such as the plug-in hybrid electric Chevrolet Volt are GM´s best bet for the future. According to the Wall Street Journal (Friday - Sunday 25 - 27, 2009), GM India considers to lend the electric-vehicle technology to other GM units around the world.

REVA has primarily been manufacturing NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles) with a rather limited driving range and top speed. But since “94% of cars are used for an average of 80 kilometers a day” as Mr. Maini from REVA explains, this segment is also promising, especially in India.

Both GM and REVA are also working on long-range versions of the electric Chevy Spark as well as other models. GM`s Chevrolet Volt will get a purely electric range of 40 miles (or 64 kilometers) which would satisfy the daily commute of 3/4 of Americans (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors). If needed, a small gas engine can kick in an augment the range to 300 miles (483 kilometers).

REVA´s NXR equipped with Li-ion batteries might manage a range of about 120 - 160 kilometers (75 - 100 miles) at a top speed of more than 80 km/h (50 mph). The company even has plans to build an assembly plant in NY state. ->

http://green.autoblog.com/2009/09/22/reva-to-build-electric-cars-in-ny-state/

Check out these two videos to learn more about REVA´s EVs as well as about REVA REVIVE which should help against range anxiety:

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