This is the future. And I’m in it today. Guess I’ll just have to forget the familiar symphony that valves, pistons, cams and various other mechanical bits produce while they greasily sweat it out to produce bhp and kgm. Welcome to the world of keep-your-cool gHz, where processing power and zero-emissions is the name of the game, and output figures somehow sound more appropriate in kW.
What am I talking about? Exactly this – a car, which, at full chat, sounds like the little fan in my desktop computer. The Reva Fuel Cell Prototype, India’s first such machine, is initially a bit unnerving to drive, but it soon grew on me. Like its battery-powered siblings, the Reva Fuel Cell is quite loveable actually – only, it’s got a lot more technology packaged inside its little body.
Getting to drive the car in Delhi, I found it’s incredibly easy, and fun too! Turn the key, give in to the experience as the cooling fans start to hum, step on the ultra-soft accelerator pedal and the little car takes off nonchalantly. The thoughtfully placed gear knob – similar to the battery-powered Reva, features a Reverse, a Neutral, and Economy and Fast modes. And don’t laugh at this little machine – ‘Fast’ gets the Reva FC sizzling from 0 to 60 kph in a mere 6 seconds! No surprise that one Mr Bhatia, who came to inspect the car while I took pictures, remarked with visibly annoyance, ‘I’ve seen a few of these before, there is a red one near my place, the woman who drives it has Formula One ambitions. She overtakes my Accent repeatedly…’
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