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PluginIndia Electric Vehicles

Auto Expo 2014 - Focus on Mahindra Reva

7/2/2014

17 Comments

 
By Kamlesh Mallick
The Indian Auto Expo 2014 in Delhi has been interesting and disappointing at the same time. If you are expecting major announcements from Indian and Global auto manufacturers concerning electric mobility launches, then we haven't seen much. BMW did not showcase the BMW i3 pure electric. Nissan has ignored the Leaf for the Indian market. No big Indian manufacturer like Tata, Maruti have showcased any electric concept car either.
However Mahindra Reva has done some great work over the years to create an EV market here in India.
Their e2o electric car is a pleasure to drive and own.  This blog highlights some major announcements by them at the Auto Expo 2014.  
I shall update the blog as and when more news comes though.  So stay tuned! 
Mahindra Reva are maintaining their ambitious plans for the EV market. It was apparent from the way they stormed the show on Day 2.  They showcased a new sports electric car called Halo, which has a top speed of 162 km/hr, races from 0-100 in less than 8 seconds and has a range of 200 kms in one full charge.  
Looks good huh?
"There is a plan to commercialize Halo, we are working on a bigger powertrain and a final design. It will take about three years to be production ready," says Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director, Pawan Goenka.
"It may very well turn out that the market for the car may be outside India...unless there is government support for electric vehicles, the car could be launched outside India first," Goenka said.
Illustrating the point i had made, about government support in my previous blog.

There is a market for such cool looking cars in India.  Also cars like these on Indian roads will forever shed the 'golf cart'/'low power small car' image of electric cars.

"This car has been fully designed and developed in India with all indigenous technology," Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle CEO Chetan Maini said.  Terrific stuff, i must say.  Mahindra Reva is going from strength to strength.  We are lucky we have a company that is innovating right here in India and believes in the vision of clean mobility.

Apparently the Halo will be available with two options – one will have a range between 100 to 150 km and the top-end model will have a range of 200 km.  The car will only get into the market sometime in 2016.  So as of now, this is a pure concept car.  Although an impressive concept!
We at Pluginindia.com hope Mahindra mass produces the Halo.

Mahindra also showcased the Verito Electric Sedan.  This launch of this car is very important, as consumers will start having options when it comes to buying an EV.  The launch of the Verito Electric will also shed a lot of inhibitions about electric cars.  
The Mahindra Verito Electric is powered by a 29 KW AC Motor, when you compare this to the e2o's motor's power of 19 kW.   Although it still cannot compete with the power of the Nissan Leaf's motor at 80 kW (110 hp)/280 N·m of torque).  High torque is not a necessity in Indian roads, anyway.  So that is acceptable.

The big question, we would like to know is the size of the battery pack.  That was not disclosed by them. Mahindra says the range of the Verirto Electric would be 100 km just like the e2o, which has a 10kWh battery pack for a car that charges in around 4 hours time.
So even though Verito Electric goes the same distance as the e2o, the Verito electric is a bigger car that weighs more than 1000 kg, and thus it would need a bigger battery pack as compared to the e2o.
My guess would be a Lithium-ion battery pack which can store upto 16-18 kWh worth of energy, should propel the Verito electric for 100 kms.
I hope Mahindra provides options for customers to opt for a bigger battery pack (say a pack that goes 100 km and a bigger pack that provides a range of 150 km) 

Mr Chetan Maini had this to say about the Verito Electric. “There has been no compromise in specs. Almost everything including the boot will be of similar size. We expect to launch the car sometime this year,”

So this is good news!   We will have an Electric car launch this year. I hope our government keeps its end of the bargain and launches those subsidies! 

The Mahindra e2o has been updated too with a new smart port that enables intelligent control of two direction transfer of energy to and from the electric vehicle. The smart port supports Quick2Charge (DC Fast Charging), Sun2Car (Solar Charging), Car2Home(technology by which e2o can power your home) - all from a single port in the car.
The car can be fully recharged in one hour, while a recharge of 15 minutes will give a range of 25 km. 
This is good news. All the new e2o's sold will have this smart port.  I hope existing e2o customers can also avail this smart port. As its a hardware update, they might charge existing e2o owners.  But the benefits of DC quick charging outweigh the price.  More details will be posted here as and when i get some information.

Mahindra have also announced that they will start installing DC quick charge stations.  This is a boon. As i have illustrated in my blog on DC quick charging. Strategically placed quick chargers will enable, existing customers of the Mahindra e2o to occasionally travel more than 100 kms and thus solve the problem of long distance driving.  It would also help Mahindra sell the Verito electric car, once they set up a DC quick charging station say between Mumbai and Pune for example.  This is a right way to go.  
Picture
DC Quickcharge station
I hope Mahindra is clever about choosing the location of these quick charging stations.  It better to have these on major highways between important cities than in the cities themselves - where most owners charge at home anyway.
Also from inside sources, i have learnt that Mahindra has chosen the CHAdeMo standard on their ports for DC quick charging. CHAdeMO is a DC quick-charge protocol originated in Japan and used in the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi MiEV and a few others.  Nissan is expanding CHAdeMO charging stations across USA and Europe. So its good to see Mahindra opting for an established standard.
Picture
The SmartPort for the e2o that sends DC current directly to the battery pack
The Immediate Future
Mahindra needs to work on the following soon
  • Build DC Quick charge infrastructure as soon as possible around major Indian cities.
    My blog illustrates the need for DC quick charge infrastructure.  Adding one or two CHAdeMO quick chargers around major Indian cities wont cost much. There will be huge sales benefits, as illustrated in the blog.
  • Introducing the Verito EV at the earliest, preferably after installing these DC quick charging stations between important cities like Mumbai to Pune, Mumbai to Ahemdabad, Delhi to Chandigarh, Bangalore to Chennai/Hyderabad etc.
    Verito would make a great EV and a price under Rs 10 Lakh (without subsidy) along with a good DC quick charge infrastructure would make it an attractive proposition.
  • Fast forward their export to other countries ASAP. This has to be done in tandem with pushing the car sales locally.

Mahindra are here to stay and are committed to the EV market.  This is great news for all EV fans.
Lets hope 2014 is a great year for Mahindra Reva.  Because in a few years time, we will definitely have global players and big Indian auto makers entering the EV scene.  
Mahindra Reva has a first mover advantage and should make the most of it!  Go Reva!

UPDATE - 03/16/2013
PlugInIndia got couple of updates from Mr Chetan Maini, CHIEF OF STRATEGY & TECHNOLOGY - Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles, about DC quick charging in India

Here are the tweets
https://twitter.com/MainiChetan/status/442117413706797056
https://twitter.com/MainiChetan/status/442116922616729600

Summary
a) The smart port, which sends DC directly to the battery pack, can be installed in earlier e2o's & is backward compatible. So all customers of the e2o one can use quick2charge,sun2car & soon car2home via a single port.
quick2charge - is using DC quick charging station
sun2car - the is the solar power system, that will plugin to the smart port to send DC power directly to the battery pack
car2home - Where your battery pack acts as an inverter during emergencies

b) Mahindra is also planning to roll out DC fast charging in key cities and are also evaluating some highways.

17 Comments
Ramesh Krishnan
8/2/2014 03:43:03 am

Lol, how many more times will that Reva-NXG be "unveiled". Who are they fooling? This car was unveiled in 2009 as NXG, Now it is remodeled and unveiled as Halo, after some 5 more years it will again be unveiled under some other name. And nobody even wants to know the price as it would be more than double the price of E2O.
Reva-NXG - http://green.autoblog.com/2009/09/16/frankfurt-2009-reva-nxg-looks-ready-to-stomp-nxr-is-ready-for/

Reply
Kamlesh
8/2/2014 03:55:14 am

Hi Ramesh,
True the Reva NXG was showcased in 2009. But the design of the Halo is radically different dont you think? The NXG looked like an Egg :), but was cool too.
Thatz the thing bout concept cars, they are expensive to build but provide a glimpse into the future. Whether that future actually comes to pass or not kind of depends.
Sometimes the amazing design and technology innovations of a concept car are translated brilliantly into production reality. On other occasions the car that ends up in the showroom very different.

All in all its a demonstration of technology and invetsment. Its good to see Mahindra focussed for the Electric market.

Am sure if they ever release the Halo, it would cost around 30 Lakhs plus. Its a sports car for the elite. For the common man, there is the e2o and the Verito Electric!

What do you think about the Verito Electric?
At what price (before and after subsidy) would it really be compelling?

Reply
Ramesh Krishnan
8/2/2014 04:49:29 am

Thanks for your kind and quick reply.

10 Lakh is all I would pay for an electric car. If they cannot make it below that I would me more than happy with any of the other cars in the market which I would mostly be using on weekends...

Let me just say if it is priced beyond 10 Lakh then it would put the car beyond people like me who want to but cannot afford an electric.

Kamlesh
8/2/2014 04:54:19 am

Am expecting aggresive pricing of 9 Lakhs and if there is a subsidy of 1.5 Lakhs, it could come down to Rs 7.5 Lakhs.

I think that would really appeal to people, don't you think?

Suresh link
10/2/2014 03:39:00 am

At 7.5 L for Verito Electric I would be tempted to exchange my e2o. Any price under 9 L is good. It would be very useful as a complete city car as compared to E2O which is mainly a commute car.

Hope the range is at least 100 Km. Provision for an additional 100-150 Km battery pack that can be rented out for highway trips would be cool.

Regarding my E2O, hope I can get a Quick2Charge port fitted.

Reply
Kamlesh
10/2/2014 04:39:28 am

Hey Suresh,

What we are expecting is that Mahindra should provide options on the range - 100km battery pack and a 150km battery pack.

Me too have been looking forward to get the Quick Charge port fitted in my e2o. I really hope its backward compatible.
As soon as i get some information, i shall updated the blog.

Stay tuned!

Reply
Suresh link
10/2/2014 05:22:13 am

Hi Kamlesh,

Please post any early info that you may have regarding Quick Charge port and later the Verito specs and launch. I read somewhere that the range may be only 80 Km when it is launched.

Thanks,
Suresh

Kamlesh
10/2/2014 10:00:37 am

Hey Suresh,

Sure i shall.
The Verito electric goes 100 km like the e2o.

It does not make sense for a sedan to go lesser than the e2o.
Unless Mahindra really want to save money on those expenive Li-Ion battery packs :)

Stay tuned.

Thanks,
Kamlesh

Kamlesh
16/3/2014 11:39:53 am

Hi Suresh,

I just got an update from Mahindra about Quick Charge for old vehicles. So its good news that existing e2o customers can use it!

Hope all is good with you.

Hema
10/2/2014 05:09:40 am

Yeah Suresh is right, Mahindra Dealers could rent out the batteries when they are required for extended runs above 100 kms.

What say Mahindra?

Reply
Kamlesh
10/2/2014 10:06:12 am

Hey Hema,
Sadly, adding additional battery packs as and when needed is not offered by any Electric Car manufacturer. That makes sense, the additional weight of the extra pack on the car, could hinder performance.

Companies like Tesla Motors offers battery swapping stations, where the battery pack is replaced at a battery swap station after you drive say 90-100 km. That can be done.

But the is sometime in the future. As of now DC quick charging stations can do the trick for regional travel.

Thanks,
Kamlesh

Reply
Iftikhaar
19/7/2022 08:50:52 am

Hi Kamlesh,
Do you have more information on sun2car & car2home systems such as how they work and how i can buy the systems?

Madhav
10/2/2014 05:13:02 am

Finally I can see a proper car in Verito Electric unlike the funny toy like look of reva and e2o.

Reply
Kamlesh
10/2/2014 10:08:02 am

Hey Madhav,

One thing is for sure. The Verito Electric sedan will convince lots of people that electric cars are serious business and are here to stay.

Thanks,
Kamlesh

Reply
Sonal Sheshadri
12/2/2014 06:34:52 am

What colors are available? Is it available in Pink color?

Reply
PlugInIndia
12/2/2014 09:06:36 am

Are you talkin bout the e2o or the Mahindra Verito Electric or the Halo?

The e2o does not come in Pink. Please check the Mahindra e2o website. The other 2 cars are not yet launched.

Reply
Amar link
11/8/2017 01:09:34 pm

Reva also got lots of attention.Nice car for anyone for city transport.

Reply

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