Reva : A realistic picture
I should appreciate the non-polluting car, and its ease of driving and that is why I bought it. But, it is time to repent, and spread some awareness about it for the uninitiated. I will make it brief.
1. Safety - High risk due to battery inside the car
The battery leakage in my car posed a very high risk recently. The service center noticed the leak, but just patched and allowed my wife to drive it. On her way, she noticed the battery gauge dipping to zero frequently, and car almost stopped many time on her way. She somehow managed to reach office, but, was afraid to take it back home. She called the service centre and asked them to pick the car. But, they just asked her to drive it to the service station. She was still afraid, and I suggested her to leave it in office. After two days, I went there to take it to the service center. When I was driving, I smelled acid in the car. When I told my wife, she too recollected a foul smell in the car on the day she drove it to the office, but could not recognise it was acid. On the way, I heard a mild bursting sound beneath the seat where battery is located. I just went out of the car, and watched for a few minutes to see if there is any more issues. Then prayed to the Jesus for a while, collected all my my courage and took it again.
Now, this is my diagnosis (and my own) :
The leakage in the watering tube at the battery point caused the acid to leak out. This acid spread over the battery, and makes a relatively good conductor which connects the battery terminals. In effect, battery gets short circuited. More water/acid spilling out of the battery (especially at the humps) makes the short circuit stronger, and makes the battery gauge fall.
Now, I would like to stress a few important points - warnings to all users.
A. The service center did not take the water leakage seriously. The water/acid leakage from battery could be fatal. Short circuit could couse even fire.
B. In the event of an accident, if the vehicle overturns, and turns on one side, the acid could leak and burn the passengers. The company could claim that Reva having low center of gravity may not overturn, but will this statement reduce the risk??*
- Running cost*
What is the running cost of a car. It is "fuel cost + maintenance cost + depreciation".
For my sedan,
fuel cost = 5/- per km
maintenance = 1/- per km
depreciation = 8/- per km
Total = 13/- per km.
For my Reva (non-AC, running 15km per day, running around 20000KM in 5 years, battery to be replaced latest by 5th year at the cost of 60000/-, road tax of around 20000/- to be paid after 5th year, watering cost of 30/- per around 150 km, and the other normal maintenance - the spare cost for Reval is very high compared to other conventional cars. For example, a speedometer cable for reva is 550/-, whereas that for Maruti Omni is only 220/-. Why should this be costly for Reva??)
Fuel cost = 0.50/- per km (50 paise)
Maintenance cost water = 0.2
maintenance cost regular = 1/-
maintenance battery replacement for 20000 km = 3/-
depreciation (including road tax) = 6/-
Total = 10.7/- per km.
This calculation is different if your daily drive is more (say 40KM per day may give much better figure), say around 8/- per km.
ie, by spending just around Rs.2 more per km, you get luxury and safety.
So, where does Reva fair?? Only on environment, at the cost of high risk, and high running cost.
WAIT.. Is an electric car powered by supply line an environment friendly car?? NOT AS MUCH AS YOU WOULD THINK.... You must be pouting now. In India, around 66% of power comes from thermal plants (Wikipedia), fueled by coal or other non-renewable energy sources. When you use that power for charging your car battery, how does it make the car environment friendly? It just doesn't pollute your surroundings, but it contributes to global warming like or close to any other car.
Moreover, India is still a power deficit country. When you use more power for your Reva, it just leads to more usage of private power generators, most of which are diesel generators.
To make the figures right;
Carbon footprint of 1 unit of thermal power generation (most conservative) ~= 1000g (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil-fuel_power_station).
Since India uses 66% thermal power generation, it is 660g per unit.
ie, Reva runs 8KM with one unit of power in theory. But practically, considering 90% efficiency in charging of a new battery, it will run 7.2KM per unit. So, Reva's carbon foot print per KM when the battery is in best condition is 660/7.2 ~= 91g. As the battery gets older, charging efficiency comes down, so, average during the life of lead-acid battery would be a substantially worse than this (I don't have even a rough figure for this). In addition, lead-acid battery itself adds to the environment issues.
Maruti alto's carbon footprint is 103g per km. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Alto)
ie, an electric car in India is only around 10% green as it could have been.
Of course, this would be better when your country has a better share of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, nuclear etc, but it is going to be ages from now.
Interestingly, many other countries have higher % of thermal power generation than India.
On top, read through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93acid_battery to understand the dangers of exposure to lead-acid battery.
When it comes to Li-ion battery, data could be largely same except for the degradation in efficiency or safety of the battery itself.
This review is solely based on my experience and my knowledge. Any mistake in my knowledge could be accordingly taken and corrected by the readers.
