Thumbs up for the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization research team! They have finally made the impossible possible!!

The Bangalore Based Reva electric car receives an upgradation in the hands of a group of research scientists from DRDO to turn this environment-friendly car into an astonishingly fuel-efficient vehicle!! The new avatar of Reva is going to be powered by hydrogen fuel cell in addition to its battery.  This new development is expected to add a new chapter in the production and consumption of hybrid cars in India…perhaps beyond that too.

While delivering his speech at the ongoing 94th Indian Science Congress at the Annamalai University Tamilnadu, DRDO chief M Natarajan declared “Running it could cost as little as 40 paise a km,”. He also confirmed the successful testing of this hybrid car at the Naval Material Research Laboratory at Ambarnath, 60 km from Mumbai. He also let the gathering know that the car has been performing quite well. Now 100 paise make 1 rupee, while it takes roughly $45 to make a rupee. So you can understand how cheap it is going to run a fuel-cell powered Reva!

How’s the car going to work to make this wonder any way? Well it’s no magic; let’s explain.

When the car is switched on, it draws power from its built-in battery for the initial 30 minutes. In the meantime methanol and water undergo the conversion process to produce hydrogen to power the fuel cell. Then onward, the fuel cell is prepared to supply constant charge to the batteries helping extend the range of the vehicle. This makes it possible to operate the car in the areas where electricity is significantly in short supply.

The DRDO scientists proudly describe the fuel cell as a “small silent power plant”. With this cell, the emissions will be unbelievably low. The testing models are slightly made bigger than the standard Reva models to accommodate the fuel cell rack in its boot. However plans are there to make the fuel cell more compact so that the final version of the hybrid looks just like the current Reva model. The standard Reva has a range of 80 km. The hybrid version will overtake it by additional 40 Km having an initial range of 120 km.  This range could be further extended.

The DRDO-Reva uses a phosphoric acid fuel cell. This implies the car is fine with “dirty hydrogen” — hydrogen with a strong content of gases like carbon dioxide. So the hybrid Reva can be the ideal vehicle to run in some of the polluted cities of India.

The present Reva models will cost you anywhere between Rs.300, 000 ($6,800) and Rs.400, 000 ($9,000). However the DRDO- Reva is expected to cost you around Rs.150, 000 more for each.

Hats off to the Indian scientists for their path breaking efforts; the rest depends on the market response to the hydrogen-powered car to deal with the problem of fuel costs and pollution. …Let’s wait and watch till then.