I am sure you have seen or atleast heard REVA -The Bangalore based electric car maker has been at the forefront of promoting a Green environment by its electric vehicles(EV). More so, the site has a rather stark punch line,
“If they got it, more people will get it”
But, then we are a difficult lot to convince and when it comes to cars, speed and style take the prime slots and environmental concerns happily take a back seat. More so, even for the environment conscious, the whole concept of buying an Electric car has one important issue,
“What If The Battery dies out in the middle of nowhere”
Not that the same cannot be said for any other car (with fuel), but with REVA’s limited capacity, no one would want to be stranded in the middle of the road with no way of getting the car to run without the charged batteries.
And this is the problem that REVA has taken hands on and answered it big time at the Frankfurt Auto Show, the solution christened as NXR, REVA
The concept is simple yet a technological breakthrough in its sector.
What if you could just call or SMS a call centre and get your battery re-charged – Sounds cool –but, then what’s so special about it?
Only in this case, you don’t have to wait for service agents to come and do the work.Your engine gets charged remotely through the REVA service station. Now, that’s a REVAlutionary idea, aint it..
So, within a few minutes of making that SMS/call your REVA is recharged and ready to go and go green at that !
The brilliance with the idea is the fact that it should help REVA cull doubts about its limited range problem which supposedly is a deterrent for prospective buyers.
Also, NXR REVA has tied up with General Motors to develop this EVS. Among others the NXR will have a range of 80 km per charge and a top speed of 80kmph.
Given that the EVS generates the lowest carbon footprints amongst any other cars in mass production, I think it makes a very good choice for commuting in highly congested areas like Bangalore.
What do you think?? Will this technological breakthrough help people “get it”!!
PS: I had the pleasure of driving one in college.One of my professor had one and even though it does give a toyish feeling, it is every bit a car and does not let you down.
[This post has been written by our regular contributor Ankit Agarwal, an ERP Consultant by profession, a wannabe entrepreneur and stock market stalker by passion]
The ‘Reva’lutionary technology is great. It is taken from the great scientist Tesla.
Guys,
This is just marketing BS. Remember that ‘reserve’ switch on the old Vespa scooters? This is the same trick..Worse – you cannot switch to reserve! You now need to SMS/Call someone to do this??
Ridiculous.
I am a fan of Reva – they shouldn’t be doing these gimmicks.
Amit
You know Amit, I was also thinking the same thing….why not give a knob somewhere in the Car itself that will help you switch it on yourself, saves trouble calling up or smsing :D
Having said this, I think we need to dig it further to see what it actually does…I think it will be clear in a few more days…will keep everyone posted if I come across something…
@kiran
Thanks for the share.Even NC shared it.Goes to show that the unthinkable is well within reach.
It is the same as people balking at the thought of an airplane, but then it happened and it is common place now.
When people are making breakthrough’s in teleporting, i am sure the technology that REVA is proposing may not be far.
The day is not far away to charge the REVA for real through airwaves…here’s the innovative TED talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/eric_giler_demos_wireless_electricity.html
Might take some time to go commercial though…the thought though is brilliant (for ppl more familiar with electrical technology…this tech. is a modification of what Tesla had built, albeit much safer and easier to use)
Thanks NC ..U came as a life saviour otherwise this time i was on my own:)
I agree that the technology seems far fetched but yes, the idea of a reserve cell operatable by the service centres is something good too.
Ok this caught my eye and being an E&TC engineer, I know this is a technology not yet into action and there are organisations working on it.
The articles talks about the technology which says that a reserve cell will be available but not operable by the owner of the car, but by the service center guys. Seems they forgot to consider the possibility of no network coverage..
As a child I used to fantacise about electricity being transferred via waves and you no more shall need wires.
I feel all the trak-ers would be interested in this video @ TED
http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_giler_demos_wireless_electricity.html
cheers
NC
Folks,
I apologise for the way the writing came out that it looked unreal.I probably should have searched around for more.
I did find out something more which does bring the technological aspect down but i still feel that it is a step ahead.
Here is the more apt detail on it
“It’s a roadside assistance program that allows REVive service personal to “activate a reserve amount of energy” from the batteries (via telephone or text message), to allow the driver to get to location where they can properly recharge the car. ”
Thanks all for pointing your doubts.It will only motivate me to do a more thorough research before i set out to publish something.
A lesson learned!!
BTW, guys!! Do have a look at the PR Wire article which does mention the technology
Here is an excerpt,
“In addition at the Frankfurt Motor Show, REVAwill launch REVive technology, a feature & technology unique to REVA thataddresses ‘range anxiety’ and will act like an invisible reserve fuel tank. Thisis the first time such a revolutionary technology is being launched that aimsto quell the range anxiety in EV users and meets the lifestyle needs of today’son-the-go consumer. If a customer runs out of charge, he/she telephones orsends a SMS message to the REVA 24/7 Customer Support Centre and a remotecharge enables the REVA new models to continue driving within a few minutes. ”
http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/auto/2009090733188.htm
I may not be reading between the lines here, but then a remote charge does mean a technology breakthrough.
However, will dig in more if i can find out any more on this one.
@guys I apologise profusely if the thing is casting doubts!! infact, when i read i couldnt believe it myself!! The data i mentioned has been provided in Business Today latest edition.I tried to find more on the REVA site but couldn find the technicalies mentioned..
Will try to find out more and update it here.Sorry, for it looks like a half-cooked post but then i thought BT is trustworthy and REVA might be purposely trying to hide their technology aspect since they haven mentioned it anywhere
Arun,
This is not April fools day.
By sending an SMS, how can the reva guys charge the battery remotely. They plan to beam rays from the sky???
I totally agree with Roshan on this & if at all they can achieve this then they will be the next blockbuster on the block. why make the cars, they can just rent out technology to every device, car & power utility co.’s.
More so the travel range given in this feed/post is totally different from the Reva website.
Ankit, you got to answer these guys :) I am with them as well..
Hi Anand, I think you have not understood clearly what they have done. The above is against basic laws of science and thus makes me very skeptical. In my opinion, what you are describing is Impossible!!