You’d certainly be amazed by the looks of this car. It looks like a car that has been under the limelight starring in some movie. But, what if I tell you that this vehicle is 100 percent Indian? Yes, looks can be deceiving and this all-Indian sports car named SuperNova has proven so.
With the Indian auto market opening up to newer segments, the new genre of vehicles featuring alternate power trains are slowly finding acceptance across homes in the country. One such attempt by nascent Indian car maker Golden Arrow Wireless grabbed a lot of attention at the recently concluded Gujarat Auto Show when the company showcased the Super Nova Electric Vehicle (SNEV) that is capable of doing 1000 kms on a single charge of batteries.
Whooping no?
Drawing attention at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s 2014 Gujarat Auto Show held at Gandhi Nagar, the Supernova Electric Car is claimed to run 1000 km in a single charge of its battery. This electric prototype of sports car was introduced by Ahmedabad based Golden Arrow Wireless Pvt Ltd at the Auto Show. The company for setting up a plant for the manufacture of electric sports car has entered into an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Madhya Pradesh government, while this prototype still needs the approval of Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), confirmed Shashi Vyas, Founder, Golden Arrow Wireless.
The company is called Supernova and its car is called, yes, the SNEV. Granted, it helps that the car is a two-seater with a fiberglass body and is going to leverage speed.
This electric or green sports car named as SNEV (Supernova Electric Vehicle) is manufactured at Aslali facility of the company located in Ahmedabad. It is available in three variants based on the battery used in the car. They are as follows-
Lead- Acid battery– It weighs 300 kg (120 volt) which requires eight hours to get charged.
Lithium ion battery- It weighs 120 kg and charges up in two hours.
Super Capacitors battery- It weighs 20 kg and takes 5 minutes to charge.
This company seems to be following Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision seriously with the showcase of its electric car as ‘Made in Gujarat’ car. Vyas who is an aerospace engineer and also the founder of the company further said that the company has already been allocated with 100 acres land for setting up plant while the company is further looking up for odds to set up a plant in Gujarat.
Supernova electric car was introduced at the Gujarat Auto Show where other automobile market leaders like Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, BMW, Tata Motors and Rolls Royce were also present. This car is still waiting for approval from ARAI which might take more time since they do not have any set rules for examining sports cars prototypes in India and this car being an electric sports car needs completely different rules, said Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director, ARAI.
What Golden Arrow is yet to specify is the speed at which the Supernova has to be driven to achieve a range of 1000 kms. Realistically with that kind of a range, the Supernova will be beating the Tesla’s range of 440 kms as well as the Fiat 500e with a range of 140 kms and the Toyota RAV4 EV with a range of 165 kms, which makes us take the claim with a pinch of salt. Even though the model showcased here is a prototype, the design also needs rework and a lesser early 1990’s influence if the company is serious about retailing the model to new age and modern customers.
Mullah:
The Supernova is expected to be priced around Rs. 15-25 lakhs and will be India’s first indigenously developed electric sportscar. The Gujarat based automaker also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Madhya Pradesh government and has been alloted 100 acres of land for establishing a facility. The company is looking to establish a plant in its home state Gujarat as well and will be sourcing funding through venture capitalists.
Golden Arrow claims to have around 250 bookings for the electric sportscar and can deliver the same by the end of 2016 once the ARAI approval comes through. The company has raised around Rs. 500 crores for the project and has spent 100 crores in developing the car. It will need a total of Rs. 2500 crore investments to set-up a new manufacturing facility.
Bottom Line:
If given a chance, would you give this Make in India Sports car a go? Or will you rely more on the international players? Do write to us 🙂