India will soon see its first electric car introduced by Chennai’s Bavina Industries. Quoted at Rs 2.5 lakh, this four-seater steel-bodied hatchback looks somewhat like a cross between Hyundai Santro and Daewoo. There’s more! Like any other modern day car, this one too flaunts the AC, power window and centralized locking. It is learnt that the fully-charged electric car has capacity to run for 110 km with AC turned on. Without, it will run an extra 20 kms. Bavina Industries has decided to roll out the electric car on the Indian road on 14 April the coming year.

 

The electric car can give an optimum 55 kmph speed and thus, expected to give serious competition to Reva, the two-door fibre bodied car operated on batteries. It is learnt that the Bavina Industries will assemble the electric car at the city facility presently. The company plans to establish its own production unit at Marakkanam, which is located at about 100 km from Chennai from the year 2009 onwards. Also components like the electric motor, body shell, battery and charger would be, at the outset, brought from China.

     

It is only steadily as the demand for the electric car grows that Bavina Industries will begin procuring all its parts from home. Officials said that talks about its dealerships are on and is expected to get finalized by 2008 January end. Bavina will introduce 5,000 electric cars every year and this number would be slowly stepped up. Furthermore, the electric cars will grace the roads of only South India on the very onset. The idea is to introduce the vehicle in all major Indian cities gradually in a systematic phased manner.