Maini’s company, founded in 1994, is known for its small electric car model, simply known as the Reva-or the G-Wiz here in the UK. The first firm to build electric cars in India, the Reva Electric Car Company became Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles in May this year after the Mahindra Group acquired the firm. Despite the buy-out, Maini continues to serve as chief strategy and technology officer for the company. By March this year, the company had sold some 4,000 vehicles across 26 countries worldwide.
First arriving in the UK in 2004, the G-Wiz quickly became a sales phenomenon, as one of only a handful of cars eligible for exemption to the London congestion charge at the time. Celebrity owners, such as Jonathon Ross helped boost the fame of the tiny two seat model.
Chetan Maini’s interest in electric cars can be traced back to his childhood, when he built remote-controlled toy cars. While a student at the University of Michigan in the United States, he took part in the General Motors Sun Race in 1990. The solar-powered car his team built won the contest and deepened Mr Maini’s interest in alternative-energy vehicles. He thought electric cars, in particular, held great potential.
Reva’s first model debuted in 2001. Just 8.6 feet long, 4.3 feet wide, the current G-Wiz model has a range of up to 48 miles and a top speed of 50mph. A full charge from a standard 13 amp plug takes around eight hours.
A new G-Wiz costs around £9,000.
Although this electric quadricycle has suffered controversy over the years about its safety, the model helped motorists realise that electric cars could genuinely offer a cleaner and cheaper form of transport than fossil-fuelled models, and helped pave the way for other EVs to follow.
Commenting on the award decision by a panel of independent judges, Tom Standage, Digital Editor at The Economist, said: “Mr Maini’s success reminds us that electric cars need not be expensive, and that developed countries do not have a monopoly on innovation. Indeed, India has emerged as the champion of ‘frugal innovation’, cutting costs to make new technologies more widely available.”
The Awards ceremony will take place on October 21 in London, with other winners picked for categories including Bioscience, Business processes, Social and economic innovation, Computing and telecommunications and Consumer products and services.
