Summary
The development of small electric vehicles offers tremendous growth potential for the automotive industry, and General Motors, is getting the jump on its competitors by developing EVs for sale in India.
Analysis
General Motors India and Reva Electric Car Company on Thursday said they had signed an agreement to cooperate on developing EVs for sale in India.
The two auto makers jointly will develop platforms, EV technology and control systems. The goal: "to create and launch an affordable small car for domestic consumers", they said in a statement.
Reva seems to have found a partner in GM India that shares the company's passion to for reducing carbon emissions. Reva and GM will attempt to leverage their companies strengths in the Indian market to make India a hub for the development of electric vehicles and related technologies.
GM's own "range extender" hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt is scheduled to start production in the U.S. in late 2010 as a 2011 model. It will travel up to 40 miles on electricity from a single battery charge and be able to extend its overall range to more than 300 miles with its flex fuel-powered engine generator.
The Volt uses grid electricity as its primary source of energy to propel the car and a European version called the Opel Ampera is also planned.
Development of small electric vehicles is is a growth area for the automotive industry. With the right product GM has the opportunity to meet emerging needs in many parts of the world.
Reva is based in Bangalore and has over 14 years of experience in electric vehicle research and development. It claims to have been the first company to commercialize electric cars and now sells or test markets its products in 24 countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
So far, 3000 of its vehicles are on the road and have clocked up over 43 million miles.
Jack Sayer consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
