The electric car maker plans to increase its capacity by five-fold this year to cater to the rise in demand because of rising oil prices.

The company will invest up to $20 million, to expand its production capacity to 30,000 units  from its present 6,000 cars a year by the end of 2008. (See: Reva Electric Car Company secures $20 million investmentn)

To polularise  eco-friendly electric vehicles, the Delhi government has announced a 15-per cent subsidy on Reva's base price, a 12.5-per cent exemption on value-added tax and a refund of road tax and registration charges, totaling to a 29.5-per cent incentive on all types of electric vehicles.

The car runs on a battery that costs Rs50,000 and has to be replaced once in three years and the company says it offers a saving of Rs2 lakh over a five-year period.

The entry level car is priced at Rs2.99 lakh and  the higher variants will be priced  above Rs3 lakh to Rs3.78 lakh.

Chetan Maini, chairman and chief technical officer of Reva Electric Car Company, said, ''We have completed our test marketing period and are expanding our sales to Delhi. To meet the growing demand for Reva, we will be expanding our production capacities five-fold by the end of this year.''

However, the company will start utilising its full capacity only after three years, Maini added.

Last year the RECC launched Reva-I a new upgraded version of Reva electric car, whichuses AC drive train to give better speed, range and acceleration.

Reva was started by Maini in 2001 to as a passion for the environment and to convert Bangalore in to a pollution-free city. (See: Reva - the latest sensation in electric cars)

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