[RAC]

Originally Posted by bobby jayaram

The standard reva does a top speed of 80kmph . I drive a few other very quick cars but believe me when i say that in todays traffic there are very few cars that can beat a Reva and also we do our bit to save the environment.

I have owned Reva for 6 years now (long term review has been due for long :-)). It never touched 80kmph. It does 60kmph on level road and little higher speed only when there is a slope.
I checked with the service centre a few years back and they mentioned that the top speed is electronically controlled and can be modified and if I remember, they did offer to modify the dpeed governor/emu for higher top speed.

Ps: my car is quite old and within the first 100 cars produced.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

My DADs REVA is 7 years old, and it still runs on the original batteries

He still consistently gets 60 odd kilometers per charge

And now, he has the option of going in for better batteries. Its like an engine transplant. Would cost about 60,000, but it evens out in the long run. Not that he needs batteries, but he is saving up for it

@TheARUN - have you received the notice for payment of road tax from the RTO?

Wow. 7 years and no change of batteries. I have changed twice in 6 years. Must be the 'F' mode my wife uses all the time and I pray she does not read this :-)

I disagree with you on the newer bateries. The original batteries are/were the best. The replacement batteries are lower quality looking at what happened to me and the feeling i got from the service centre (since they need to look at keeping the battery costs in check). When I bought the car, I was told 24000 for the battery set and now it's 60000.

I have changed 2 sets in the last 2 year. The previous set lasted 1.5 years and gve up life after 10000KMS.

Friends, you should go for a Reva if:
1) you are not comfortable with regular/geared cars
2) this should be your 2nd car.
3) environment concers are little higher on your priority
4) enough money to swallow the high cost of Reva and not bother with alternatives
5) strong backbone to put up with the bumpy ride
6) you have patience to wait for the mobile service to come and help you out since they are the only one who can help you if something goes wrong.
7) you love to see the smiles on the faces of children everytime they see a Reva


Low maintenance costs and running costs are probably right. Low ownership cost is not true for this car once it comes to changing batteries, you spend what you have saved.
I hear the new cars - Revai are much better all over.

On other note, Reva is the most convenient car once it comes to traffic and parking. THis is the only reason why we haven't sold our car.

This was our dream car when my wife and I were settling down together and God bless ended up owning one.
We were proud owners and still are. However it stopped making financial sense to us. Culprit - battery and the road tax (road tax yet to be paid).

My post is our experience with our car. So please don't take anything personally.