21st Century Regenerative Technology

1. Earth2Tech Week in Review
2. Reva: Trade in Your Gas Car For An Electric One

Earth2Tech Week in Review

2008-09-13 19:38

Craig Rubens - Misc

The doldrums of summer time are gone and the cleantech world is ready to hunker down as fourth quarter rapidly approaches. Here’s the news from this week.

Google's Eric Schmidt Details Energy Plan, Chides Lack of Leadership: At a dinner for the Corporate EcoForum, Google CEO Eric Schmidt outlined a plan to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil, fight climate change and create green jobs, adding: "We have a total failure of political leadership, at least in the U.S., and perhaps the world."

Pickens Meet Phill: Clean Energy Fuels Buys Natural Gas Vehicle Device Maker: Pickens’ natural gas vehicle distribution company Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) plans to acquire FuelMaker from American Honda Corp. and the FuelMaker Trust for $17 million in cash.

Palin on Foreign Policy: It's About Energy: In her first interview since being tapped for V-P, Palin said that her work in energy is a strong credential for her foreign policy credibility and asserted that "energy is a foundation of national security." She also modified her stance on global warming, saying it could be man-made.

Think Recharging With Big Funds for Electric Vehicles?: Think Global AS, maker of the highway certified two-seater electric car TH!NK city, is reportedly looking to raise a third round of funding in the neighborhood of $80 million to increase production capacity.

Leaked Chevy Volt Pics Get Gear Heads All Revved Up: Pictures of Chevy's hugely anticipated Volt were "accidentally" leaked onto the Internet, and now they're every where from the Wall Street Journal to, well, seemingly everywhere the Internet goes.

900 million PCs or 300 billion mobile handsets. Which is the bigger opportunity?
Mobilize 08: GigaOM’s Next-Generation Mobile Conference

Top

Reva: Trade in Your Gas Car For An Electric One

2008-09-12 22:45

Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups

Reva, the Indian electric car company that had one of the best-selling electric vehicles in the world last year, is holding a “gas-to-electric-car” exchange in Bangalore this weekend. The idea is to bring in your gas car and maybe, just maybe, come out with a brand-new REVAi.

There are very few details as to how the exchanges are being valued, only that used car dealer Mahindra First Choice will be making the evaluations and the State Bank of India will help customers with “finance matters.” So getting a new REVAi might need some cash in addition to your gas car.

It’s a fun idea, though. Reva, which plans to launch one new vehicle every calendar year, and ramp up its annual production from 6,000 to around 30,000 vehicles over 2008, only put 2,500 vehicles on the road last year. But it’s got a first-mover advantage, a low price tag — $9,000 for a range up to 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) per battery charge — and a keen sense of targeting emerging markets for a possible early success.

Reva may be new to many, but it got its start in 1994 as a joint venture between the Maini Group India and California-based AEV LLC. After an extensive R&D period, its first commercial vehicle went to market in India in 2001. Draper Fisher Jurveston then led a $20 million round of financing for the company in 2006.