Maini Reva [2003-2008] User Reviews

The Car is good. My experience is that I had driven the REVAi “Classe” the top model for 3000 Km and observed that • It’s a nice car with good concept. Eco friendly car • Option as second car, good for one or two persons. • Fast pickup; require less space on road and parking, loved by all. • Lot of space for two people in cabin. • Good car for rainy season, can be driven in rain water up to 2ft without any problem. • Ideal for driving up to 60km in city and market areas. • Simple to drive. But the after sale services are very poor. As they do not have a proper service center with required parts in NCR and Delhi therefore they are not able to rectify the problems. Note that – • Cabin: Inside cabin is noisy due to PVC parts and AC blower sound, which disturbs while driving • Driving: Many times it is observed that car swings when in motion. Hand brake is not user friendly • Seats: Seats are of poor quality and are not comfortable, swings in all direction, means completely in motion either statuary or in running condition and makes abnormal sounds. Seat belts automatically do not rollup after release • AC: There is no proper cooling even at blower speed of 4 and temperature at maximum. • Rear Axel: There is cut-cut sound continuous while driving from the rear axel. • Shockers: The ride is not comfortable as the front and rear shocker do not absorbs the shock of the bumpy roads/ damage roads • Car body: On the car body unfinished joints can be seen clearly with poor unmatched color silicon. • Music system: JVC MP3 normal system having Poor reception in all FM programs in Delhi and NCR. • Rear view mirror: Rear view mirror to big compare to the size of the wind shield as it obstructs the observation. • Battery: At the time of sale commitments made by sales staff is that the battery life if 5 years but when you see the service manual the Battery warranty is one year and second year on prorate basis, cost of Set of 8 batteries is approx 60000 to 850000. Battery watering is required every week with battery water approx 2 liters. • Motor Life: Two year warranty • Mileage: 60km in one charge with Minimum A/c and stereo use. • Owner manual supplied: Printing problem in Owner manual supplied shows poor proof reading Hope you all find the same as usefull

Reva is the answer to answer for cities like Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Jaipur, Delhi and other major cities of India. This car is free of pollution and reduces chances of accidents or road fatalities. However the consumer is not convinced with this car due to its high cost. For at this price you can have a Wagon-R. The Government must offer certain subsidies to this car and encourage the purchase of this car as for small families this is ideal. The prospective buyers are of the view that Reva cannot climb steep heights on road because the electric engine does not have the energy for the same. I a resident of Kharghar Navi Mumbai would love to own a Reva if it were at a cost within my reach i.e. approximately Rs 1 to 1.25 lacs. Beyond this it is pointless investing in such a car. I request the manufacturers of Reva i.e. Maini Group to give it a thought and make your car compatible to the common man. Please come out of the elitist segment. Please conduct some test drives in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Delhi and other major cities of India. This is the car for the future with prices of petrol and diesel rising steadily.

Good fuel economy, cute and stylish, excellent for a small familyCost extremely high when compared to size.

THE CAR HAS BEEN DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED AFTER A VERY CAREFUL THOUGHT ABOUT ENVIRONMENT AND TRIES TO PUT ACROSS A SOLUTION WHICH CAN BE HIGHLY PRACTICAL ALSO IN FUTURE EVEN AS THE PETOLEUM PRICES KEEP GOING UP.IT MAY BE A GOOD IDEA TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF THIS CAR TO MAKE IT FOUR SEATER

 

Exterior Really cool style, This car is good crowd puller.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The interior features are minimal, but its ok for a car of this sort. The space is also less. The driving comfort is really great, very stress free driving.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox NA.

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality is really great but on speed above 70kms/hr it feels that the car wobbles. The Boost option is really good for climbing hills and overtaking.

Final Words I feel the car is really good for daily point to point commute and it is going to give ROI in 5 yrs time for sure. Also the government have to give more subsidy to promote this car.

Areas of improvement The door have to be light, need to have the normal windows instead of the sliding windows. The seat belt to be positioned in a good location so that the users need not have to twist to pull oneself for pulling the seat belt. The Driving distance per charge to be increased.

1. Fuel Cost Reduced. 2.Relaxed Driving 3.Good crowd puller1. Bit Cramped inside 2.Low Driving Distance 3. Door difficult to close

Exterior Acceptable, good.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

Lousy handbrake - why could they not at least copy the hand brake system used by all- the existing one is very very haphazard and requires effort to pull up (stop while parking/at red light signal) = this must be replaced with standard type of handbrake

Placement of accelerator/breake pedals a bit Un-ergonomic - causes stress to thighs/knees. When driving for more than 30/40 minutes. Compare to systems in maruti,santro etc. its created by inexperienced drivers to say the least.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox For first 2 years fantastic! BUT in the 3rd year battery drops to below 60% of usability (chargeability as well) and range progressively drops to near 5/10% within 6 months after the 2nd year. Promised battery life is 5 years - whereas actually it delivers less than2.5 yrs. This makes actual cost of driving more than 4 to 5 rs. per KM WITHOUT CONSIDERING COST OF CHARGING one would expect m/s Maini reva to provide some kind of discount for replacement of battery pack but no they are selling it at astronomical figure of rs. 1,00,000 (one lakh ) plus fitting charges as noted from local service station in mumbai . !! 

ADD TO IT - no availability of Lithium Ion pack in India ( as confirmed by tech.sales deptt. at

Bangalore , where it is made) while it is upgradeable in UK,Europe etc.  and there are reviews from actual users there that they are successfully using lithium ion etc. - chk www.revaclub.com) This is a serious and senseless shortcoming from those selling REVAi in 

India.  Lithium Ion pack is the only thing that would make electric drive viable in India - as they last upto  4/5 times more than the Lead Acid equivalent. 

Ride Quality & Handling  Average but lenth of car from bonnet to hatch(rear) would have been sligthly more by 1 feet - that would make riding at higher speeds more safer.

Elsewhere - the electric car batteries ( in golf carts, supplied by trojan - there is feedback about lead acid batteries lasting almost upto 5 years , but in REVAi - it is not so.).

Areas of improvement

Battery pack increased to 10 nos of 200ah , 12v lead acid packs instead of 8 nos at current so range wud last upto 100 kms/around.

Battery life saver ( BLS megapulse.net, etc. available internationally) units must be installed with new battery packs so that battery life on average is 4 to 6 years instead of 2 to 3 years max.

Lithium Ion packs must be given at EMIs/ Rental basis to customers for all existing models

AC units must be made more robust

Suspension must be at least on par with cars costing around 3 to 5 lakhs in todays market, suspension of REVAi is very rigid and bumpy - likely to damage your back in 90% of indian roads.

VRL voltage load regulator must have user removable fuse near charging point - I ended up paying 5,000 for damaged module during normal voltage fluctuations in THANE - indicator of low/high voltage near dash board a must for charging anywhere safely.

If above shortcomings are addressed by M/s Mahindra Reva - then it would be worth buying electric car in india -else - stick to petrol with CNG kits - they give u total cost of rs. 4 per km ( all in clusive, fuel, servivicing engine oil/other replacement ( whereas Electric car cost over rs.5 for just battery pack replacement in 2/3 years AND cost of charging of 10 units for driving max of 70/80km.).

Conceptually great, upgrageability to Lithium Ion possibility, range of 80kmsActual Cost of ownership terribly high/Service, support and continued committment 100% missing