Viva Reva! An EV for Normal People

I'd love to get my hands on a next-generation electric vehicle, or even a hybrid Prius, but it seems like low-emission vehicles are for the most beyond my pay grade. The Tesla Roadster? Gorgeous car, but way out of reach for most people -- it costs about six figures. But is a responsible, low-carbon lifestyle only the province of the rich, who tend to travel more by airplane anyway?

Not anymore. GM India and Reva have teamed up to produce the Reva NXG, a reasonably priced electric car for the masses -- at least it will be available for Indian consumers, according to a FastCompany blog post.

A current model of the Reva NXG (pictured above) costs $7,262 in India, but it's not clear how much the newer model -- expected to be made available for the 2011 model year -- will cost. Also, India lacks the infrastructure to support a fleet of EVs.

But something's gotta give -- if enough people buy these cars, then hopefully the infrastructure will follow. And hopefully these cars also will be made available in the United States (after all, GM is involved in this venture), because why should only the rich have access to cleaner technology?

Photo courtesy of RevaNorge, via Flickr