Reva Car Club

The Reva electric car club is a free club for anyone who owns or is interested in Reva electric cars

About Reva Electric Cars

The Reva range

Reva cars have been designed to be nimble, simple electric cars for non-polluting urban travel. They have been designed for inner-city use, where performance and long-distance driving is not a major requirement.

Reva dc-drive

The original Reva is the dc-drive model. This car first went into production in May 2001 and remained in production until the summer of 2006. It had seating for two adults and two children.

Reva dc-drive

Initially only available in India as a right hand drive car, the car was subsequently exported to Malta and the UK where it was branded as the G-Wiz. In late 2005 the car became available in left hand drive form, which allowed the car to be exported to a number of other countries.

The dc-drive model had a range of 30-40 miles and a top speed of 40mph.

Reva dc-drive

Reva ac-drive

In mid-2006, a new, more powerful version of the Reva car was launched. Visually identical to the earlier dc-drive model, the Reva ac-drive had a more efficient and more powerful ac-drive electric motor, providing better acceleration and improved hill-climbing performance.

Reva ac-drive

Reva ac-drive inside Reva ac-drive in Scotland

Top speed increased to 45mph and the range increased to 40-48 miles thanks to improved 'regenerative braking' (where the batteries are recharged by the motion of the car whenever the driver takes their foot off the accelerator.

Reva i

In the middle of 2007, the Reva dc-drive was crash tested by a motoring magazine, using the stringent 'frontal offset' impact test laid down by the Euro N/CAP standards. The car performed badly in these tests and Reva responded rapidly by asking Lotus to help them develop a new frontal crash structure for the car.

This was implemented at the end of 2007 in the Reva i model. The Reva i is a substantially reworked car, with the new frontal crash structure, new braking system, enhanced suspension, new windscreen, styling enhancements and improved internal layout giving improved head and leg room inside the car.

Reva i

Performance has been improved with the car now reaching a top speed of 50mph and with better mid-range acceleration.

The Reva i has undergone crash testing and is a significantly safer car than earlier models.

Reva NXG Concept

Launched as a concept car in 2005, the Reva NXG Concept is a substantially different car to the other Reva models. Designed as a two seater electric car with higher performance, the NXG was limited to a top speed of 130km/h (81mph) but had rapid acceleration and huge mid-range torque.

The NXG concept model had a range of around 125 miles and included a touch screen computer with high speed internet connectivity. It was a fully working car and driven by a number of motoring journalists when first shown.

It has been assumed that the NXG was only a concept car and that it would not spawn a production vehicle. However, rumours now suggest that a car based on the original NXG high performance concept may be launched late in 2009.

Reva NXG Concept

Reva Zephyr

Reva Zephyr concept

Another concept car, the Zephyr is a two seater convertible with wheel arch extensions, electric windows and a new nose. A few cars have been built, but it is not expected that the Zephyr will be put into production.

Reva 'Estate'

Another Reva concept car, this car is capable of carrying four adults and is significantly more spacious than the current Reva models. Again, this car is not expected to be put into production but has been used to gauge public response.

Reva Four Seat concept Leather interior

The four seat Reva had an upgraded full leather interior including a leather covered dashboard and door cappings.

Reva Fuel Cell

Another test vehicle, the Reva Fuel Cell car used a fuel cell as a range extender.

Future Models

Reva prototype in testing

Reva has gone on record in stating that they will be producing one new car and one new derivative each year for the next few years. Instead of the single model, Reva will expand to provide a range of electric vehicles including city cars, small family cars and light commercial vehicles.

Recently seen testing in Bangalore, this Reva is an early prototype for the next generation of Reva electric car. Little is known about the technical configuration of this new model (although that hasn't stopped the speculation!)