Reva

Reva was an Indian electric-car marque of the Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company, founded in 1994 by Chetan Maini with backing from the Maini Group and American partners. It became one of the earliest modern electric-car brands to reach regular series production, and in 2001 it introduced the small urban REVA hatchback, later updated as the REVAi. Exported to several markets and sold in Britain as the G-Wiz, the model gave the marque an international profile out of proportion to its small size. Reva’s significance rested on its role as a pioneer of practical battery-electric motoring in India and as one of the first EV makers from Asia to achieve broad overseas distribution.

The marque remained closely tied to compact city cars. Its defining products were the original REVA, the improved REVAi, the lithium-ion REVA L-ion, and the later NXR, which evolved into the Mahindra e2o. In 2010 Mahindra & Mahindra acquired a controlling stake in the company, after which the marque was incorporated into Mahindra’s electric-vehicle business. Reva therefore occupied an important place in Indian automotive history as an early specialist EV brand whose technology and model line continued under Mahindra ownership.