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MAN AND MACHINE PRINCE FREDERICK
An electric connection
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S. Rajasekar confesses to an addiction for cars and now seems irrevocably lost in the world of electric cars
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SILK ROUTE This Chinese battery car is all set to be redesigned as Bavina for the Indian market
Rajasekar is charged up with an ambition to sell Chinese electric cars in India.
At present, he can give only sketchy details about the business that he is likely to start in early 2008 at a plant to be readied in Marakkanam, about 100 km south of Chennai.
Rajasekar shows his cards: “The shell, motor and batteries will come from China and the other parts will be sourced from within India”.
At this point of time, the only evidence of his determination is a version of the battery car he plans to launch. With design resemblances to Daewoo Matiz, Chevrolet Spark and Zen Estilo, this car’s external appearance papers over the interiors (marked by cheapjack rexine) that lack in refinement.
Rajasekar does not take offence at this plain speaking and admits the car has to be brought up to snuff. Quality enhancement and cost-reduction are two strange bedfellows and it remains to be seen how he will manage to tuck them in together under the sheets.
He intends to offer this electric car, to be marketed as ‘Bavina’, for an attractive Rs. 2 lakh, a tall order considering the absence of special sops for manufacturers of zero-emission battery vehicles in the country. The car betrays an effort to keep costs down.
In an expedient move, a four-speed manual transmission of the kind made for the Maruti 800 has been installed. Because, in India an automatic transmission unit comes with a daunting price tag. The ‘power pack’ consisting of six lead-acid batteries (12V/200AH each), an inexpensive option for battery vehicle manufacturers, can be recharged 500 times at 130km for every charge that takes ten hours. Lithium-ion batteries last longer but cost more.
The reigning battery car in the country, Reva is expected to introduce lithium-ion batteries in its latest model, to be unveiled in 2008.
In another cost-conscious move, a brushed DC motor has been preferred to the more efficient and powerful brushless DC motor.
Rajasekar pitches his ‘Bavina’ from expected planks – “is eco-friendly, a gentle road-user (max. speed 55kph), a four-door sedan and low maintenance”.
Chasing anything that moves on four wheels (his admission: "I changed over a hundred cars between 1986 and now"), Rajasekar finds this battery car project truly electrifying.
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