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Journalism of Courage
Akshay Khanna owns a Reva, so does Kibal Sibal. But not too many people are joining them on the green ride n irena akbar
It8217;s easy to be a celebrity and spout green drivel8212;carbon credits, Al Gore, 8220;no-plastic, please8221;. But once the cameras go blink, most of these stars slip into their gas guzzling luxury sedans, blurring their green causes in a haze of polluting gases and smoke. But not actor Akshaye Khanna. And not Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney and Cameroz Diaz before him8212;they drive electric cars that run on rechargable batteries, use no fuel and emit no gases.
Kapil Sibal, the minister for science and technology, is also a proud owner of the car .8220;I bought it just to tell people that if I can drive a small, electric car, so can anybody else,8221; he says as he leans on his white Reva, which he bought in 2006. But two years on, none of his colleagues, friends, relatives or neighbours has an electric car. 8220;When I take out my car, people give it an unbelieving look. But when they see me inside it, they smile, glad that they8217;ve caught a glimpse of a public personality. That8217;s about it,8221; says Sibal, who says he is eco-friendly in others way too. He doesn8217;t waste water, turns off the lights at home when not needed and uses no fertilisers at his farm in Tera village, Gujarat.
INDIANS UNINTERESTED
Some 2,500 Revas have been sold since 2001, when they first rolled out. Of this, 70 per cent have been exported, though this is an Indian car manufactured in Bangalore. 8220;Indians aren8217;t environment conscious. We8217;ve got to change the way we eat, the way we live and the way we travel to make a difference,8221; says Sibal.
Sanjay Gupta, a pilot with Air India agrees. He drives two Revas to get over his guilt of using too much petrol8212;his last New York-Delhi flight consumed up to 100,000 kg of aviation fuel. His Scorpio car runs partially on bio-diesel processed from Jatropha seeds. But Gupta laments that Indians aren8217;t eco-friendly. 8220;Our neighbours call us the choti-gaddi wali family,8221; he says. In north India, says Gupta, a car is a symbol of wealth, power. The bigger, the better. In Bangalore though, where some 650 Revas are on the road while there are just a little over 30 in Delhi-NCR.
8220;In Bangalore, people are very protective of the Reva. On a busy road, they give it space but in Delhi, owners of big cars consider their vehicles to be macho and almost try to run over the small car,8221; says Malvika Raghuram, a visiting faculty at the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon. She moved to Gurgaon from Bangalore a year ago.
Reva owners in Bangalore have formed a community of sorts. On March 2, for instance, some 120 Reva owners took part in a race. They also organise get-togethers where they discuss the latest in environment news. The city also has a Reva Ladies club.
MONEY MATTERS
Part of the reason why the Reva8217;s doing well in Bangalore is that the Karnataka government levies only a four per cent VAT on the car 8212; the lowest among all Indian states. In Delhi, the VAT on electric cars is 12.5 per cent. Cost is also why Reva is more popular in foreign countries than in India, where the base model is priced at Rs 3 lakh and the advanced version sells for Rs 5 lakh. In Japan, an end-user gets a subsidy of Rs 1 lakh for buying a Reva. The UK exempts electric vehicle owners from paying sales and road tax. Parking fee and congestion taxes are also waived.
In India, there aren8217;t any such sops, though things may look up as the new Budget has reduced the excise duty on electric cars from eight to zero per cent. But Reva enthusiasts feel more needs to be done. 8220;The real change in price will come when state governments let go of the sales tax on this car. I have put in a request to the Delhi government to make this car tax-free,8221; says Sibal.
VALUE FOR MONEY
But those who felt the pinch while buying it are satisfied that the car is value for money. 8220;It8217;s tremendously efficient,8221; says Khanna. A full charge, that takes up to six hours, ensures the car can go up to 80 km. When Khanna gets home with the car, he plugs it into a 220-volt charger and soon it8217;s ready to be used again. 8220;That makes it almost like a mobile phone,8221; he grins.
What Sibal likes the most about the car, besides its zero-emissions is that it requires no upkeep. 8220;Can you believe I have not had to do any maintenance ever since I bought it?8221; he says.
SECOND CAR
Here8217;s the catch. Most Reva owners use it as a second car, primarily because it is too small and can go only up to 80 kilometers. Kapil Sibal, for instance, has four other cars8212;Maruti Esteem, Mercedes E-280, Hyundai Ascent and a Gypsy. Sibal drives the Esteem to work and the Reva to 8220;small, private lunches.8221; 8220;I don8217;t drive it to Parliament as it8217;ll look gimmicky there,8221; he says. Chetan Maini, founder and CEO of the Reva Electric Car Company, says the second car market itself is very big. 8220;Last year alone, some 1,50,000 second cars were sold in India.8221;
HYBRID vs ELECTRIC
Reva is the sole energy saving car in the Indian market at the moment. But from this April, it will have competition. Hybrid cars that use both fuel and battery, and can go longer distances than electric cars are being rolled out by Honda Siel, Toyota Kirloskar and Mahindra and Mahindra. To top it, the government has reduced the excise duty on them from 24 to 14 per cent. Maini says, 8220;One player is note nough to make the country eco friendly.8221;
8212; With inputs by Harneet Singh
