Monday, January 5, 2009

Reva Electric Car Company offering lithium ion option


India's most famous electric car maker, Reva, is now giving prospective buyers in Europe the opportunity of turning their new REVAi into a REVA L-ion by offering a lithium-ion power source for the 2+2 city car. The modern battery gives the little EV increased performance while reducing charging time and maintenance. Numbers-wise, that means a 75-mile range with a 50 mph top speed. Acceleration times haven't been released but we expect that just the reduced weight of the cars power source alone will go a little way towards adding some pick-me-up. Equipped with a proprietary battery management system (BMS), the lithium ions should offer owners a substantially longer battery-pack lifetime and will come with a three-year warranty.

Also available now is an off-board charger, one that requires 3-phase power, that can give you a 90 percent charge in an hour. That's substantially less than the 6 hours it takes to fill up from an ordinary socket. The current lead acid batteries take 8 hours to charge completely. If you already own the REVAi model, which is itself an upgraded version of the not-so-crashworthy original, you will be able to purchase a lithium ion kit a little later on in the year. Get all the niggling details in the press release after the break. Thanks to Jeff for the tip!

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