REVA, the country's first zero polluting, battery-driven car was launched in the Capital with a price tag of Rs.2.54 lakh on Thursday which, the manufacturer says, has a running cost of just 40 paisa per kilometre.

"Since the REVA is a zero pollution car, we have requested the Delhi government to provide concessions on road tax and sales tax waiver to buyers. This has already been extended by the Karnataka and Rajasthan governments," REVA Electric Car Company (RECC) managing director Chetan Maini said to a press conference here. Conceived in 1995. RECC is a joint venture between Maini group and the US-based AEVT.

REVA is a two-door hatch back, which the company says, can two children. Besides being eco-friendly, the vehicle offers easy driving as it has no clutch or gears. The car's battery has a normal life span of 40,000 km, which should last for three to four years in city driving conditions, according to Mr. Maini.

He said on a single charge, REVA can be driven for 80 km and could be charged using a 220-volt, 15-amp power source. RECC has already sold over 180 REVA cars in Bangalore and Goa in the last 11 months, he said, adding the company has targeted to sell 1,500-2,000 cars in the current fiscal.

Mr. Maini said plans were a foot to launch the car in 23 more cities across the country by this year-end.

"We have recently started exporting REVA to Nepal. Several queries have also been received from European and South-East Asian countries," he said.

A total of Rs.80 crore has been invested in RECC's plant at Bangalore which has an annual production capacity of 1,500 cars with planned expansion capacity of 12,000 cars by 2003. Mr. Maini said the company would achieve operating profits in the current fiscal and net profits within the next two to three years.

A deluxe model of the car will be launched later this month with climate control facility. This would be followed by an air-conditioned variant within the next four months, he said. He said nearly 93 per cent components of the car were indigenised and developed by RECC's team of 100 R&D Engineers.

Chetan Maini (Managing Director) performing the hammer test on REVA Electric Car for rigidity at the launch function in New Delhi on Thursday.