Small ideas have often sparked big dreams and that has been the case with Chetan Maini, Managing director of REVA Electric Car Company (Pvt) Ltd. Maini, who is busy these days driving his electric car REVA onto greater heights, believes that the future lies in electricity-driven vehicles.

Look at India, he says, "It is a great country with abundant natural resources like coal, water, etc that can be used for electricity generation. Privatization has seen more and power being produced and that too at the time when world people are becoming more and more conscious about their environment. Conventional fuels have always been polluting and harmful to the environment. The search for a non-polluting fuel begins and ends with electricity and what better way to utilize it than for vehicles, "says he.

Maini is not wrong when he echoes these sentiments, for in REVA customers are finding a dream, jazzy city vehicle with the looks and performance of a cheetah. The beauty of the vehicle is just plug it in, charge it and zoom off. No more of the grease and grime or long queues at pumps and of course the long spells at the workshops. All you need is to plug the car in a 15amp socket for around 2-4 hours and presto ready for the roads. From its debut as a prototype in 1996 to the actual launch in April 2001, the REVA has had a chequered journey. But the hibernation was necessary to iron out the nitty gritty of the vehicle in various conditions.

Today Maini has a smile on his face when he says that REVA is ready to break-even this fiscal. Volumes have been slowly picking up and Maini expects to sell 2000 cars by March 2004 compared to the present level of 820 cars. Though sale has largely been in Bangalore till now, he feels it would change as the company is slowly spreading wings. Today REVA is available in Delhi, Jodhpur, Chennai and Surat. REVA will roll into Pune later this month and then to other parts of the country by 2004.

REVA, however, is all set to blaze a new trail abroad. In fact Maini sees exports as his main growth driver in the years to come.

"We have started exports to the United Kingdom where we expect to sell around 1,000 vehicle in 2003. Malta is another country where the market is opening up for us. Israel, Japan and some island communities are other regions that we plan to be present in.

The uniqueness of REVA is it is safe on the environment and we are the only manufacturers of electric vehicle in the world, all of which gives us the leader advantage, he opines. He, however, maintains that the company is extremely bullish on the domestic market. "Once we are able to bring down the duty anomalies etc, we will be able to price a REVA at a more economical range," Maini adds with a tinge of patriotism, "We are proud to manufacture REVA in India and sell it there too."

City mobility is an important area of growth for automobile manufacturers these days. With limited roads, parking space problems etc, there is the need for a small and sturdy vehicle easy to manoeuver and cost effective also. "REVA fits the bill perfectly." Said Maini. For the urban eco conscious elite, Maini has put on roads recently the Classic variant of REVA with air conditioner, stereo, central locking, leather upholstery etc. "The special advantage of REVA Classic is that unlike conventional air conditioning systems it provides same acceleration and speed even while the aircon is on.

And it comes in seven basic colours and over 2000 shades." The big ticket for Maini is when REVA unveils its mini-buses later this year. 'Our dream of REVA being a mass transport vehicle will be fulfilled through this. More and more cities will turn to us to find answers to polluting vehicles and tackle rising fuel costs. We hope to step in and fill that void through REVA." And what has been the secret of his success? Taking risks and backing a dream to the hilt, says Maini.

"There are always ups and downs in everyone's life and if you are willing to fight it out, the battle is won." he says.

- M R Ullattil