REVA G-Wiz Electric Car Owners Club newsletter

October, 2011

Chetan Maini: life with Mahindra and the new NXR Breaking records with Bluebird Winter Tyres: do they make a difference?

£7.99 Available Now – the definitive guide to the REVA / G-Wiz electric car. Available from Amazon and Waterstones or available to order at any bookshop on request.

ISBN 978-1-907670-05-3.

October, 2011 Welcome

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Should EV quadricycles be banned?

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Talking with Chetan

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Keep Moving this Winter

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News from GoinGreen

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Grow your own provides new growth for successError! Bookmark not defined.

Reaching the skies

The REVA Club Newsletter is published on an adhoc basis

by Greenstream Publishing on behalf of the G-Wiz Owners’ Club and REVA Car Club, and distributed to approximately 1,500 members online via email and across the Internet.

The newsletter is Copyright ©2011 by the G-Wiz Owners Club. Individual articles and pieces are copyrighted by the individual authors and may not be reproduced without permission.

For more information about the G-Wiz Owners’ Club and REVA Car Club, visit either www.G-WIZ.org.uk or the main site at www.REVAclub.com.

Greenstream Publishing 12 Poplar Grove Ryton on Dunsmore Warwickshire CV8 3QE.

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Welcome Welcome to another edition of our club newsletter. There has been lots going on in the electric car world over the past few months, and activity at REVA and with the G-Wiz is no exception.

It may not be the most newsworthy car out there today, but the REVA G-Wiz is still the most affordable electric car available today. Despite the combined marketing efforts of Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot and Citroen – all of whom have electric cars on sale now – there are still more G-Wiz’s on the roads of many countries than all of these other manufacturer’s cars combined.

Interest in electric cars in general remains high, as I have seen from sales of my electric car books this year. Yet people are frightened off by the high purchase price: people will only buy an electric car when they perceive them to be good value for money.

So the opportunities for Mahindra REVAs new NXR remain good. Last month I spoke with Chetan Maini, the founder and Chief Technical Officer at Mahindra REVA, to find out what has been going on behind the scenes at the company over the past eighteen months and to find out the latest news on the NXR. You’ll find my full report inside.

We also have an insightful article on quadricycle safety, written by Keith Johnston, former REVA European President of Operations, an article on winter tyres and news about a new 500 mile per hour (800km/h) electric land speed car being built to break the wheel-powered land speed record.

So there is plenty to enjoy in this edition. I hope you enjoy it!

Michael Boxwell Club Administrator

Should EV quadricycles be banned?

After the first fatal accident in a G-Wiz, some members of the British media were calling for the G-Wiz to be banned from sale. Keith Johnston, former managing director of GoinGreen, believes that quadricycles may be the road ahead and suggests that now is the time for the current quadricycle legislation to be overhauled.

The British media were reporting at the inquest into the sad death in her G-Wiz EV of Dr Judit Nadal, a successful and much loved biochemist who worked at Imperial College, London. A verdict of accidental death was recorded following the news that she was on her mobile phone and not wearing a seat belt and had made a fatal error in turning into an oncoming car's path at a known traffic black spot in London.

Dr Nadal's G-Wiz was struck by a larger and heavier Skoda Octavia and a few journalists have raised concerns that the G-Wiz is an unsafe vehicle because as a quadricycle it lacks the safety levels present in conventional M1 cars. What was not reported (and in order to to provide a context for consideration of the safety issue) is that this tragic event was the first known fatality or serious injury in a G-Wiz over a ten year period in more than 180 million km of customer driving in 20 countries; or that quadricycles (the G-Wiz is classified as a L7e quadricycle and not a full M1 conventional car and not subject to the same safety requirements) have a superior accident record to conventional cars, because of the limited speeds of the vehicles and the slower urban roads on which they are driven.

Quadricycles, also known as microcars, exist in a continuum of vehicles. They offer customers a vehicle that is safer than a motorbike or scooter and

in the case of electric quadricycles, more affordable than a conventional electric car (the G-Wiz is one third of the price of a Mitsubishi iMiEV, for example). In addition to being zero emission at the tailpipe and extremely low cost to operate, the G-Wiz is small, lightweight and nimble and so is easy to drive and to park. In traffic congested central London, where the average speeds are about 10 to 15 mph and most speed limits 30 mph, there are approximately 1,000 G-Wiz used on a daily basis resulting in a small but loyal following. G-Wiz drivers are fully aware that they are driving a vehicle in which they are less protected than if driving a conventional car.

Quadricycles are quite a common sight in some European cities, with approximately 400,000 on the streets of Western Europe, particularly in France and Italy.

If anything, the category is about to become more popular because automakers see it as a potential growth segment. Renault are launching the Twizy quadricycle in 2012, whilst VW and Audi are showcasing single and two seat urban EV concepts at the recent motor shows.

The last government announced an intention to review quadricycles on the grounds of safety, following a government crash test of a G-Wiz to M1 safety standards (which it failed, unsurprisingly, and

Quadricycles... have a superior accident record to conventional cars, because of the limited speeds of the vehicles and the slower urban roads on which they are driven.

Murray Design has called for a new category of 'Urban M1', which would focus automakers on small, lightweight, safe and energy efficient vehicles suitable for everyday commuting.

Our challenge is to ensure that vehicle safety is optimised whatever the category. We must design the regulations correctly to enable and ensure that manufacturers build vehicles with appropriate levels of safety given the state of technology at any given time and with due regard to Above: Like the current REVA i, the 2012 Renault Twizy is a quadricycle usage and affordability. In other words, and is exempt from M1 safety testing. Peugeot are also considering let's reform the quadricycle regulations launching an electric quadricycle in 2013, whilst VW and Audi have both by all means, but let's approach such a been showing electric quadricycle concepts over the past few months move without the mass of emotion . swirling around a single event.

Below: After the UK Government’s crash test of an early model G-Wiz, As the former Managing Director REVA developed an improved safety cell for the REVA i, which was of GoinGreen, I launched the G-Wiz independently crash tested by ARAI. and was almost certainly head of the company when Dr Nadal purchased hers. Her death has touched everyone involved in the business past and present. I hope that any debate can be constructive and undertaken with the aim of creating a category of safe, which led to the development of an improved safety energy efficient and affordable electric vehicles. cage for the current model). There were calls then Let us also remember that it is heavy, large, from Labour politicians to ban quadricycles, leading to energy wasteful cars marketed for their excessive an equally vociferous defence from now London speed or size and which perpetuate dangerous or Mayor, Boris Johnson. My own position is that I careless driving, that are the real problem here. support any constructive review of safety - but I do not see the point of a witch hunt to ban quadricycles which does not consider all the facts.

The existing L7e quadricycle regulations limit the vehicle weight to 450 kg excluding batteries, which effectively limits the safety level that can be achieved in the vehicle. One option might be to increase the existing 450 kg limit to say 650 kg excluding batteries, which would enable additional safety features to be incorporated into the vehicle Keith Johnston is the former managing director of and using the latest technologies, to achieve a target GoinGreen and previously the President of NCAP safety level of 4*. I am not alone in calling for Operations for REVA across Europe. He blogs on the such a move - Professor Gordon Murray of Gordon subject of electric cars at connevted.blogspot.com

Talking with Chetan Chetan Maini is the founder of REVA. Under his direction, he grew REVA into the largest independent electric car manufacturer in the world. Now as part of the Mahindra & Mahindra empire, he talks to the club about life with Mahindra, new vehicles and how the new enlarged company can compete – and beat – mainstream manufacturers. / What has been happening REVA since Mahindra & Mahindra have invested into it?

We have been working on improving our existing product line. An updated Reva i has been developed with lithium-ion batteries, providing a 100km range.

These are being shipped to Europe now.

In India, we have been focused on improving distribution, opening 24 outlets across India, which will grow to fifty by the end of this year.

The Mahindra and Mahindra Group have a number of other vehicle ranges that they produce. A lot of work has been carried out in evaluating the electrification of a number of different platforms and a number of different prototypes have been produced.

A new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant has been built in Bangalore and this is now being fitted out and prepared.

There was a lot of positive feedback following

A new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant has been built in Bangalore. This is the car assembly building under construction.

the Frankfurt motor show in 2009. Since then, the car has undergone a number of upgrades, in particular with an improved interior design. Significant amount of time has been spent in additional testing, with winter testing in Europe, summer and monsoon testing in India. Production will commence at the end of this year.

When will we now see the REVA NXR and NXG models?

The NXR will be available in India during Q1 of 2012.

Europe will follow during the second half of 2012.

The NXG will arrive, but the timeframe for releasing this car has not been finalised. We see a great opportunity for this car but since the original announcement of the car in September 2009, many other companies have been announcing electric cars and we need to further define our market segment for this car.

What are the plans for Mahindra REVA in Europe?

We have a number of excellent distributors already in Europe. Mahindra and Mahindra also has a presence in a number of European countries. Furthermore, the group acquired Ssang Yong earlier this year, who have in the region of 700 dealers across Europe.

This means that there are number of opportunities for REVA in Europe and we are working on an improved distribution model for Europe, which we hope to have in place by the end of this year.

In the past few months, major car manufacturers have been launching their own electric cars, and have achieved notable success: Nissan winning 'World Car of the Year' with the LEAF, Mitsubishi winning some significant sales (they are the best selling small car in Norway with an overall 2% market share). Can Mahindra REVA compete in the market now the larger manufacturers are selling electric cars, and if so, what is the unique selling feature of Mahindra REVA cars?

In the early years, we expect a lot of co-operation between different companies – working together rather than competing directly. The industry needs to create a category and an awareness for electric vehicles and in the first two to three years, we see

little one-to-one competition between different products and companies.

Mahindra REVA are focused on creating affordable city vehicles, which is a major challenge for the whole industry right now. We are driven by new technologies. Vehicle telematics is going to be a big area for electric vehicles and this is an area where we have real specialist knowledge.

One of our benefits is that we have a very flexible architecture, with lots of power options that we can offer to the consumer. So, for instance, if you have a customer who only needs to travel 20 or 30 miles each day, it does not make sense for him to have a car that can do 100 miles.

What are your aspirations for Mahindra REVA? We are now part of a $12bn automotive group and this is providing the financial muscle that we need to grow our business. Our aspirations remain to be ‘The Earth’s Favourite Electric Vehicle Company’, building vehicles in an environmentally responsible way, building cars that put smiles on people’s faces and we are confident that we can achieve all of that in the next three to five years.

The G-Wiz is no stranger to snowy weather. But winter tyres makes it safer. Photo: Markus Lieb.

Keep Moving this Winter Summer is over, winter is coming and for UK drivers at least, memories of the treacherously icy roads last winter are near the surface once more. Many people are asking whether this year they should be switching to winter tyres, and if so, when they should be doing it?

Michael Boxwell investigates.

Here in the UK, we may have had an unseasonably warm autumn so far, yet winter is just around the corner. You don’t need a long memory to remember how bad the driving conditions of the past two winters have been. Driving conditions were perilous and images of cars stuck in snow and sliding on the ice made front page news. So it is not surprising that tyre manufacturers have been stocking up on cold weather

tyres to help keep people moving when the snow and ice finally hit us.

“We’re bringing in twice the number of cold weather tyres into the United Kingdom this year compared to last,” says Paul Cordle at Michelin.

“Demand for cold weather tyres is higher than it ever has been and we are recommending that our

customers fit cold weather tyres for increased safety throughout the winter for all road conditions.”

The contact area of a typical tyre – the area in contact with the ground – is surprisingly small. At around 23 square inches it is a similar in size to the palm of your hand. In fact, the contact area of all four tyres of a typical small car is comparable to the contact area of a pair of men’s running shoes. It’s not surprising therefore that when conditions turn icy, normal road tyres start to lose grip.

The answer, according to Michelin is to fit cold weather tyres to your car when the temperatures drop to below 7°c and keep them on all winter. “Cold weather tyres have a special rubber compound, special tread pattern and deeper groves. They give ten times the grip of conventional tyres, biting deeper into the road surface for greater adhesion,” claims Cordle. “At all speeds, stopping distances in ice, snow and rain are virtually halved by using cold weather tyres.”

In the UK, cold weather tyres are perceived as only being useful in the snow. They have the perception of being noisy, chunky, giving a poor ride and damaging the road. Not so, claims Cordle.

“Winter tyres can be as fuel efficient and long lasting as summer tyres. They have low noise levels and excellent grip on snow, ice and on cold, wet winter roads.”

To prove the point, Michelin and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) recently held a cold weather tyre testing event on the Silverstone handling course. Twenty-five journalists were invited to try driving in simulated snow, ice and heavy rain, first using a car fitted with conventional tyres, then trying an identical car fitted with cold weather tyres.

The Silverstone handling course includes a driving route designed to simulate driving in heavy snow, an ice hill, designed to accurately simulate sheet ice on a steep incline, and an aquaplaning track with powerful jets of water designed to push a car out of control. The circuit is used by many top car manufacturers when testing and setting up their cars prior to launch.

My first test was to drive a Ford Focus on a snow handling circuit. Driven with conventional tyres, the car very quickly lost adhesion and left me sliding out of control. Corners became perilous at low speeds and I managed to slide the car off the road around a roundabout at little more than walking pace. Touching the brakes even gently activated the ABS and easily induced slides.

Switching to the same car on winter tyres transformed the car. The car gripped around the corners, responded to steering corrections and could stop quickly. Had I not driven the car on conventional tyres just moments before, I would not have believed the difference the tyres made.

Driving a VW Golf across the aquaplaning circuit was a similar experience. Instead of spinning entirely out of control on conventional tyres, I was able to correct the slide and safely stop the car on cold weather tyres. Tyre noise, ride and handling on all other surfaces were comparable to conventional tyres.

Driving up and down the ice hill in a Toyota Yaris was another eye-opening experience. On conventional tyres, the car could not gain enough traction to pull away up the hill covered in sheet ice.

Braking and turning downhill put the car into an uncontrollable slide, resulting in me running off the circuit. Using cold weather tyres, not only could I pull away and accelerate up the hill, but I could turn and brake downhill at high speed, rapidly changing directions and come to an emergency stop at the foot of the hill.

According to the SMMT, a set of winter tyres should not be viewed as a cost, but an investment. By swapping from summer to winter rubber for up to half of the year, both sets will wear half as much, lasting twice as long as a single set of tyres. “With temperatures starting to drop and the wetter seasons approaching, motorists should make sure they have the best tyres for the road and climate conditions,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive.

Had I not seen the difference for myself, I would have taken those claims with a pinch of salt.

Yet having tested them, I’m convinced. Winter tyres?

You’d be crazy not to.

Five Top Tips for driving safely this winter The G-Wiz is often better than other cars when driving on packed snow or ice. It’s light weight, narrow tyres and low power means the G-Wiz can often get through where a bigger, heavier car will struggle.

But that does not make it infallible. Here are five top tips for driving safely this winter: 1. Snow may be perceived as the biggest issue, but actually ice causes more accidents than snow.

Watch out for ice whenever the temperature is below 5°c.

2. Give yourself time to react: don’t drive faster than you feel comfortable, and leave plenty of space between you and the car in front.

3. If you’re driving your G-Wiz, you’re at an advantage. The regenerative braking can actually aid smooth braking. Brake early and gently: not only is it safer, it improves your economy and range as well.

4. Keep it smooth: accelerate gently, slow down gently, steer gently. If your car feels balanced when you are driving it around the corner, you’re not unsettling it. That means you’re less likely to slip.

5. Make sure you have the right tyres on your car, and make sure they are inflated to the right levels. Cold weather tyres will give you much more grip, but all tyres will grip better if they are inflated correctly.

News from GoinGreen GoinGreen are now offering Pay As You Go servicing packages for all GWiz DC-drive, AC-drive and i models for just £250.

They are also offering £250 off new battery packs installed by the end of the year, bringing the total installed price down to £1950 inclusive.

Contrary to the rumours earlier in the year, GoinGreen are still supplying brand new cars: both the G-Wiz i and G-Wiz L-ion remain available.

For more information on these offers, contact Philip Maria at GoinGreen on pm@goingreen.co.uk

Smiles AG, REVA’s German distributors have a number of Dynex battery sets available on sale at a special price.

They are available for €1,000 a set plus shipping.

They are also offering a lithium-ion upgrade for existing REVA G-Wiz owners, extending the range to around 80 miles (130km).

For more information, please e-mail Sebastian Sauerbrey at Smiles AG on Sauerbrey@Smiles-world.de. www.Smiles-World.de

Bluebird, here seen travelling at approximately 125mph (200km/h), accelerating on its way to the measured mile.

Reaching the skies This summer, the historic Bluebird land speed racing team took to the sands once again to break a land speed record. Sadly, the new Electric Bluebird didn’t manage it on this occasion, but they’ll be back, and this time they’re going for a new world record – 500mph in an electric car.

Words and pictures: Michael Boxwell Think ‘Bluebird’ and you think speed. One of the most iconic names in both Land and Water Speed record breaking, Bluebird vehicles won fame first at the hands of Malcolm Campbell, then his nephew Donald Campbell, and then Donald’s daughter, Gina Campbell, as they piloted cars and boats to ever faster and faster speeds. Since the first Blue Bird car in 1912, the Campbell family have amassed over 30 speed records on land and water.

It is a tradition that continues to this very day.

With the exception of the 1970s, the Campbell family have been breaking speed records on land and water with Bluebird in every decade since the 1920s.

The current two members of the Campbell family to be racing Bluebird cars are Don Wales, and his son Joe. Don is the grandson of Malcolm Campbell and has been breaking land speed records since the mid-1990s. This year, Don, Joe and the Bluebird team returned to the historic Pendine Sands in Wales, in

search of new land speed records in the latest electric-powered Bluebird land speed car.

Pendine Sands has a long history of record breaking. Back in the 1920s, the sands were used by both Malcolm Campbell and his rival John ParryThomas to break the World Land Speed Record on no less than six occasions between 1924 and 1927. It is also the location chosen by the Bluebird team in 2000, when the previous Electric Bluebird racer broke the European Land Speed Record at a speed of 137.15mph (220km/h).

At the beginning of 2011, the Bluebird team announced their plans to build a series of new speed record challengers: an electric car, an electric boat and then a new, even faster electric car. The plan was to break the UK Land Speed electric car record in 2011; go for the world electric boat water speed record in 2012 and then develop a new electric car, using the knowledge gained with the first two speed record attempts to build a car capable of breaking the 500mph barrier, and establishing a new record for the fastest wheel-powered car in the world.

“Our first target was simply to get past 150160mph on land in the UK,” explains Martin Rees, Project Director at Bluebird Speed Records. “That would have increased our current UK electric vehicle record. We would then use the knowledge learned from that attempt to improve the vehicle further with the aim of getting closer to 200mph (320km/h).”

“The current car is a test and development vehicle that we have been using to try different battery technologies and drive units,” said Rees. “This will allow us to evaluate and develop the right package to take the project forward towards our long term goal of 500mph (800km/h)” Sadly, for this year at least, no Land Speed Records were broken by the team. Delays due to late supply of parts meant the first run was postponed, whilst bad weather and poor sand conditions meant the team struggled on the first rescheduled date. Then on the second day of running, the speed attempt nearly ended in disaster when driver Joe Wales lost control of the car after veering off the course at over 120mph.

“If we can get an electric car to beat a combustion engine car, that makes a hell of a statement for the future of our motoring”

Two generations of the Campbell dynasty: 19 year old Joe Wales is the great grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell and the fourth generation of the family to attempt to break speed records in Bluebird. His father, Don, is an experienced speed racer and the current holder of the UK Electric Car land speed record.

Thousands of people came to spectate at Pendine Sands. Bluebird was widely covered in the media, reported on all the major television news programmes and attracted huge public interest.

The incident occurred shortly after the car left the east-side of the beach travelling towards the measured mile. “Visibility was poor (due to water spray) and the beach surface was very soft in places”, said lead driver Don Wales. “Due to the vibration and the visibility, Joe came off the marked circuit and hit a pothole at over 120mph and came to an abrupt halt.

As a consequence, the car suffered suspension damage and we had to abort all further runs.”

Thankfully, damage to the car was subsequently found to be remarkably light. “The real fear in these circumstances is the vehicle can roll”, explained Chief Designer, Paul Sparrow. “The car did its job and protected the driver and I am very pleased with the

way the car performed.”

Whilst it was a frustrating end to the first speed attempt, Don Wales remained philosophical: “Joe is healthy and well... we live to win another day. That is the story of record breaking.”

“I broke the European electric car land speed record over ten years ago. Nobody has since broken it.

So now was the right time to get back out as a team and start a new campaign. What we aimed to do in 2011 was a good start, but eventually, we aim to have a Bluebird electric car travelling at over 500mph.”

The significance of breaking the 500mph barrier is huge. Not only would it make Bluebird the fastest electric car on earth, it would be almost 50mph faster than any combustion engine car. “If we can get an electric car to beat a combustion engine car, that makes a hell of a statement for the future of our motoring,” says Don. Meanwhile, work is progressing on another Bluebird speed vehicle: an electric hydrofoil, which the team hope to race in 2012, with the aim of breaking the electric boat world water speed record.

Featuring ground effect aerodynamics to help the boat skim over the water at speeds of up to 150mph, and looking more like a Formula One racing car than a boat, the prototype caused a sensation when it was recently unveiled in Birmingham.

“The design allows the boat to skim over the

Is it a plane? Is it a car? No, it’s a boat. The unique design of the Bluebird water speed record challenge enables it to skate over the water at speeds of up to 150mph.The team plans to race it in 2012.

Joe was on target to break a Land Speed Record when the accident happened. It was a frustrating end of the day for the young driver, but he emerged unscathed and the car had remarkably minor damage, despite the impact speed of around 120 miles per hour. As father Don says, “We live to win another day. That is the story of record breaking.” water on a cushion of air,” explains Rees. “Not only is this faster, but it is safer and more stable than trying to push the boat through water. Its radical looks come purely from optimising everything for performance.”

In 2012, Bluebird celebrates its centenary year.

Over the past 100 years, Bluebird has inspired, excited and thrilled generations of fans. In 2012, there will be Bluebird celebrations with a large party in the centre of London, with many of the Bluebird record breaking vehicles on display. But the team isn’t looking back.

With its focus on electric powered racers, it’s clear Bluebird has an eye to the future, to inspire, excite and thrill the next generation of fans, and push the boundaries of the possible, all over again.

Bluebird Speed Records is currently looking for sponsors for the 2012 season. Sponsorship packages start from under £5,000. For more details, visit www.BluebirdSpeedRecords.com.