Reva set to roll into Israel

India's first electric car, Reva,is set to roll into Israel soon as a leading firm of the country has been granted the franchise to import the battery-operated vehicle, a media report here said.

Israel-based BDO-I2I has been granted the franchise to import the electric car, produced byBangalore-based Maini Group.

Founder and CEO of BDO-I2I, the Indo-Israeli business consulting firm, David Keynan, told Ha'aretz daily that the company has already contracted one of Israel's leading car importers to handle the importing.

The Israeli firm is working out an agreement with the Indian company and a projected date for imports to begin is expected to be announced within a month, the report said.

Reva is an electric car propelled by a battery constructed from eight battery units weighing 30 kg and 6 hours of charge provides the vehicle with enough power to travel 120 kilometres, making it suitable for urban use.

The fully automatic car, which may be charged through a normal electrical outlet, is being currently sold in several metros of India, as well as in foreign cities, including Barcelona, London, Madrid, Athens and Oslo.

The vehicle is manufactured by the Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company, owned by the Maini Group.

"The car's big success is London, where the municipality has adopted it as a project and granted special benefits to owners of electric cars," Keynan said backing the introduction of the Indian car in Israel.

Explaining the benefits further, Kenyan said that special parking spaces had been allocated in municipal parking lots for the car, while congestion fees were waived off for its owners.