[mac187]

Note from Mod: This thread is now closed. Please continue the discussion in our Mahindra e2o Official Review thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...al-review.html

I have had few opportunities to see test vehicles in action but never got a chance to take a decent picture of them. But I got a great opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands. I agree pictures of Reva is not exactly going to get your pulse racing. But hey, Reva may be the bitter pill for that rising BP of yours each time you drive into a fuel station.

So Bhpians, hold your breath (na… no really silly) pictures of Reva NXR

25 May 12:30 AM
After watching a thrilling match at my home (which eventually Bangalore team lost), I had to drop a friend to his place. I set out in my car with anticipation of rains, and rain it did. After the good byes, I started back, the roads where smooth and traffic was nil. As I enjoyed a nice drive after a long long time. Something in the distance caught my eye. It was a test mule and I was all excited with the prospect that I could be one of those elite Bhpians who gets a scoop that would be the talk of the town. As I got closer the excitement of discovering something new turned sore coz between the tail lights with large letters in matt black finish, it read REVA…. aah damn.

But I didn’t lose heart, every scoop is not meant to be great, every discovered doesn’t change mankind. But somebody has to do the thankless job (oh, wait a minute, am I talking about my profession here!). So getting back to the middle of the night, I saw a car, yada, yada, yada…. I thought lets take some pictures, atleast I will get to start a new thread, my first one! I proceeded to take my mobile and click a few pictures. Although I must admit, its quite a task to click pictures while driving, hats off to Bhpains who manage to get pictures in dense traffic. I clicked a few pictures from either side of the car, the lone driver was quite aware of the stalker by now. So I did a little thumbs up to him, he acknowledged with a smile, but he maintained his speed. The straight stretch of road was about to end soon with a roundabout and I knew that he would go back on the same route (for the benefit of Bhpains, it’s a road leading towards TamilNadu from Bangalore, an highway, I guess the straight smooth stretch of road is ideal for the testing). I quickly, flashed my parking lights twice and flickered my headlights too. To my surprise he did slow down, maybe he realized that I was really desperate for that new thread, I too stopped my car right behind him, asked him if I could take some pictures and started clicking. I did have chat with him and he seemed like a nice guy. He told me that this is the new NXR, expected to launch by September. I asked him a few questions like where is the battery pack, why is the GC low, what exactly he is doing in the middle of the night (thankfully he didn’t reply, “Working, what the hell are you doing?”) He calmly replied that the batteries are placed below the seats, he was part of the 24hr testing team, although he said that the GC is fine, it did look low to me.

Then I proceeded to ask him if he would allow me to drive the car, he again calmly refused! Damn… But offer me a short drive instead and I jumped in instantly. Once inside the car, i was looking at the interiors more closely, the plastic quality was like Tata’s but I was surprised to see electric mirrors, power windows and airbag logo on the steering wheel! The speedo display caught my eye, this particular thing looked really nice. The roof was on the lower side, me being 5.10” had few inches above me. The seat was comfortable and space in foot well was decent. It felt weird to be sitting on the RHS and not having the steering wheel! Yes, I didn’t mention earlier but the car was LHD, must have been a test car for export too. He told me that the dash will have a touch screen and the interiors will be better. The drive was quite, the pull was decent, he reached 60kmph in no time. I am not sure if he didn’t push the car or the car didn’t go above 60kmph, but that’s the speed we were driving in. I took a short video to show the acceleration, sorry unable to upload now, will do that shortly. After a short drive he dropped me back and I thanked him for the drive.

Finally, I had good material for my scoop. I got much more that what I bargained for and it was time to go home.

































Here's the other Reva NXR thread : Linky

[SRK]

Thats a nice scoop.
The car looks nice and practical inside, though I don't like the exterior design much.
The earlier one looked cute.


The person who allowed you to take pics and gave you a ride was really a gentle man.
Hope he doesn't loose his job for allowing the secrets out.

[vinya_jag]

Originally Posted by mac187

But I didn’t lose heart, every scoop is not meant to be great, every discovered doesn’t change mankind.

You just did. This probably will be the Bangalore mankind changer.

Don't you think the air intakes are too big for an electric car?

[selfdrive]

Nice scoop there! I hope they do deliver by this September; IIRC this has been already delayed once if not more

The GC does seem to be a bit of an issue. Did the guy mention anything about a different RHD car being tested by their team specifically for India?

I think the last picture you uploaded can be held as evidence against this guy who allowed you the scoop, if they have different serial numbers for each test mule

[creative420]

But it does looks bigger than the current model? What about the rear space? Did he mention anything about Milage per charge? Exciting! Exciting! 5 Star scoop.

[Gooney]

Nice pictures of the interiors. AFAIK, the interiors have not been clicked before. However, the NXR scoop thread already exists.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...bangalore.html

[mac187]

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

You just did. This probably will be the Bangalore mankind changer.

Don't you think the air intakes are too big for an electric car?

They have certainly put in an honest effort to correct the flaws of Reva Gen I, along with that if govt goes through with the subsidy, this could well be the office car. Heck, I would have got me one, if i had a petrol guzzler at home.

Also, those are not air intakes, its just a design feature. I know this coz underneath the front bonett sits the spare wheel! I have posted the picture of the same too.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Nice scoop there! I hope they do deliver by this September; IIRC this has been already delayed once if not more

The GC does seem to be a bit of an issue. Did the guy mention anything about a different RHD car being tested by their team specifically for India?

I think the last picture you uploaded can be held as evidence against this guy who allowed you the scoop, if they have different serial numbers for each test mule

Thanks, this car was first shown in the frankfurt motor show 2009, its been a fairly decent time since. Also the market situation is ripe for a electric car which will be light on the pockets.

Originally Posted by SRK

Thats a nice scoop.
The car looks nice and practical inside, though I don't like the exterior design much.
The earlier one looked cute.

Hope he doesn't loose his job for allowing the secrets out.

Thanks, I think the exterior is better than the older version. Here is a picture of the car.

P.S: Since two of you have raised concern regarding the scoop affecting the guy, should i take down the last pic? If they are testing on open roads, people are bound to take pictures. Please suggest, i wouldn't want him to lose his job for this.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by mac187

P.S: Since two of you have raised concern regarding the scoop affecting the guy, should i take down the last pic? If they are testing on open roads, people are bound to take pictures. Please suggest, i wouldn't want him to lose his job for this.

I am not sure if the pic will definitely affect him, but why risk it? I think we can do with 1 pic less for his sake

[justwheels]

A brilliant scoop. Great work man, you really got a chance to taste a piece of the apple pie. Reva is the only car that has been able to be alive on Electric motors. Rest have merely been concepts or research dreams I feel. But there is one thing I never understand, the current Reva already comes with a price tag of nearly 3-4 Lacs, then why make it so revolutionary that you can't control the cost escalation. I mean shouldn't Mahindra focus more on a decent Electric motor with may be more breath for a longer distance and better practicality, rather than touch screens and sorts. Ofcourse its a way to be different, but I feel Reva doesn't need to be different, it is already. We still don't have the attitude of " I spent 5 Lacs on Reva to save the Earth". Else all rich would be buying Prius flanking their Go Green attitude. I feel Reva needs to be more compelling on the Go Green front rather than "Gadgetaries".

But nonetheless, its a wonderful product and the older model was indeed much more cute!

[NoRules]

Congrats mac187 on your 'SCOOP'

Am really surprised the driver let you sit in the car, let you take pics and also shared so many details with you. Reva seems to be more popular in Bangalore. In other cities you rarely see a Reva on the roads.

[shankar.balan]

if only the reva were better priced, it would be a runaway hit in our congested cities. i would go so far as to say it is a potential nano smasher if it could compete on price.
good scoop there.

[mac187]

Originally Posted by justwheels

A brilliant scoop. Great work man, you really got a chance to taste a piece of the apple pie. Reva is the only car that has been able to be alive on Electric motors. Rest have merely been concepts or research dreams I feel. But there is one thing I never understand, the current Reva already comes with a price tag of nearly 3-4 Lacs, then why make it so revolutionary that you can't control the cost escalation. I mean shouldn't Mahindra focus more on a decent Electric motor with may be more breath for a longer distance and better practicality, rather than touch screens and sorts. Ofcourse its a way to be different, but I feel Reva doesn't need to be different, it is already.

You are right that Reva is already different. But a plain jane Reva is not worth even a lac IMO. These gadgetaries could give is a decent push, but the pricing needs to be logical, keeping in mind the least priced car which is Nano. Its not about environment in India, at the end of the day we Indians want more for the money we give.

Originally Posted by justwheels

We still don't have the attitude of " I spent 5 Lacs on Reva to save the Earth". Else all rich would be buying Prius flanking their Go Green attitude.

+1 to that, Go Green in India means, changing the colour of the team jersey for a day! I must admit the colour was hideous

@ Mods: Can you please remove the last picture of the test gadget. I am unable to edit the post. Thanks.

[GTO]

Great scoop, Mac! Thanks for sharing.

This is a rare scoop thread where I enjoyed the text write up as much as the pictures!

Originally Posted by mac187

He told me that this is the new NXR, expected to launch by September.

Mahindra-Reva must be rubbing their hands in glee after the recent petrol price hike. And for certain, Mahindra will be able to price the Reva better than the smaller, independent Maini ever managed. It's all about scale here. A good price, with a car that looks like a proper car (unlike the toy that was the previous generation), I do think many more customers would be willing to give the NXR a second look.

[Trapezio]

Sorry... But the logo is that of Brilliance-Zhonghua! Even the dashboard is suspicious to me.


Is this coincidence? How often do we see such Chinese logos on Indian prototypes!



I don't think the real story will ever come out.

[mac187]

Originally Posted by GTO

Great scoop, Mac! Thanks for sharing.

This is a rare scoop thread where I enjoyed the text write up as much as the pictures!

Thanks alot GTO, means alot coming from you. Your reviews has taught me alot about how to keep things interesting.

Originally Posted by GTO

Mahindra-Reva must be rubbing their hands in glee after the recent petrol price hike. And for certain, Mahindra will be able to price the Reva better than the smaller, independent Maini ever managed. It's all about scale here. A good price, with a car that looks like a proper car (unlike the toy that was the previous generation), I do think many more customers would be willing to give the NXR a second look.

That was my first reaction after i got back to my car. Mahindra's gamble with Reva may pay off (unlike Kinetic!) partly thanks to the fuel prices and they have the lobby to get govt to offer rebates/ subsidy for electric cars. So if they get the pricing right, they will address the market need. At the end of the day, that is business - Know the customer needs and address it.