A Car without an engine, gearbox, or clutch? Introducing the REVA, the electric car with an energy management system and zero maintenance. THE REVA electric car is possibly the most technologically advanced vehicle on the roads. Now, that's saying a lot for a car that has no engine, no gearbox, no gearshift, no clutch, NOTHING.

No other car in India, for example, can pass the hammer test. The touch ABS body has a tensile strength higher than steel, yet is more flexible. It also bounces back into shape. Even the paint, and the technology used in applying it, is so advanced that along with the ABS material, the paint also stretches. This was demonstrated by Chetan Maini, managing director of REVA Electric Car Company (RECC), when the delivered several hard blows to the mudguard.

Forget about dents, there was no signs of peeling paint either. The REVA is also upgradeable like a computer. A few years from now, recharge packs for 80, 100 or 150 kilometres will be a distinct possibility, together with solar panels. The bottleneck is that battery technology has not advanced as fast as the electric car. The car is a concept and the challenge before Maini is to sell this concept before he can sell the product. According to their research findings, this is the car for Indian cities, where people hardly travel more than 80 kms at a stretch, and where maximum speeds in excess of 65 kms per hour is seldom achieved. This is all about IQ and not EQ.

The REVA may not win hearts, but it will impress the mind. And for its given purpose, it delivers, efficiently and economically, with zero emission and zero maintenance. After all, with no radiator, gear, differential and engine oils to replace, there are no additional expenses. The only thing required are the 12 units of electricity to charge the batteries, which amount to nothing. This means 0.40 paise per kilometer. Chetan Maini, the prime mover of the concept, spent ten years in the USA, where he did his graduation and PG in mechanical engineering from the Universities of Michigan and Stanford respectively, and worked for GM and Amerigon in their electric car projects. He designed and built six electric, hybrid and solar cars, and was team leader for the solar car that took the third place in the Sun Race in the World Solar Challenge held in Australia.

He has received the Thomas Alva Edison Award for innovation this year and also holds US patent on RF energy management systems for electric cars. So how exactly does this car work? You can compare it to an automatic car (hence a boon for physically challenged drivers).

Turn the ignition on, wait for the pilot lamp to go off, and with the knob in drive position E (for economy mode), press the accelerator. It is a two door hatch back with a battery pack weighing 250 kg. This acts as a good bottom weight to give a low centre of gravity, making the car very stable and preventing roll overs or toppling. The ABS is fixed to a steel frame that acts as a cocoon, and there are side impact beams too.

Dual braking includes hydraulic and regenerative electric braking. When you apply the brakes, the motor turns into an alternator and feeds a charge of about 15 percent of the energy units during that time into electricity. Thus, in stop-and-go city traffic, efficiency (mileage) increases. The REVA also has state-of-the-art internal electronics, with two on-board computers that double as energy management system (EMS).

The advanced computerised vehicle diagnostics instantly identifies glitches when plugged into a computer at service stations. The power source is a high torque (70 Nm), separately excited DC motor with a 13 Kv peak. A 400 Amp micro-processor based controller and a charger with 220 V, 2.2 Kv high frequency switch complete the electricals.

This includes the power pack-40 Volt, 200 Amp-hour EV tubular lead acid batteries. The car has McPherson struts in the front and a rigid axle with coil over springs in the rear by way of suspension. The tyres are Michelin tubeless - another high-tech accessory. All this for a mere Rs 3.51 lakhs on the road in Chennai.

However, if the State Government were to give a tax and excise exemption and waive road tax for its innovative, energy efficient and pollution-free run, the car would be just over 2.2 lakhs. The car can receive an 80 percent recharge within 2 hours and 30 minutes, while a full charge requires six hours. An ordinary 15-amp socket is sufficient. Over 40 REVAs were tested over a million kilometres and the vehicle carries a three-year warranty.

- Ravi Damodaran