By Team Mangalorean Bangalore

Bangalore Jan 7, 2009: City based Award winning REVA Electric Car was flagged off to join the nation-wide Indian Climate Solutions Road Tour today. Speaking on the occasion, REVA Electric Car Company (RECC) Founder and CTO Mr Chetan Maini said that the Road Tour  was an opportunity for REVA to showcase its advanced technology to battle environmental issues.

Sources in RECC, the manufacturer of the country's first electric car say that these cars would be powered by the next generation Lithium Ion Batteries. In addition, they would have solar power panels to harness sun's energy and further increase the mileage.

The proprietary energy management system manages the flow of energy efficiently,increasing the mileage to 150 to 200 km per charge.

Indian Youth Climate Network has launched a journey across the country to highlight India's local eco-solutions as well as empower the youth on global climate change.

REVA, which has made successful inroads into many foreign markets, including London, will enter France next month, a top official of the company that makes the electric car said. Mr Maini said 35 per cent of the production was exported.

In 2008, the company had sold 600 cars. The target for this year had been set at 800.

He said REVA was being sold or test marketed in 18 countries across Europe and Asia and had the largest deployed fleet of electric cars in the market with over 2,500 electric vehicles (EVs) on the road and more than 50 million km of user experience.

Besides France, it had proposed to enter markets in Spain and Ireland. In Norway, the company has sold 100 cars.

To a question, he said the global economic slowdown had no effect on the sales of REVA cars. "In fact, in the national Capital New Delhi the sales is increasing with big corporate house showing interest in REVA cars which are eco friendly and save on fuel cost," he said.

Today, four Reva cars, equipped with three solar plug-in electric vehicles and a solar powered music band called Solar Punch joined the nationwide Indian Climate Solutions Road Tour in Bangalore.