Driving success

UNDER THE RADAR/Olivier Vander Elst/GreenAer:If a car dealer tried to sell you a vehicle saying the annual running costs would come to about €200, you would probably snort derisively with thoughts of every used car salesman joke flitting through your mind - or at least you would probably take a close look at the small print.

But Olivier Vander Elst is no ordinary car salesman and the car he is selling is no ordinary motor.

In a country increasingly dominated by ever-bigger SUVs, he is hoping to make a splash with Ireland's first all-electric car.

Vander Elst's company GreenAer, which he runs with business partner Lisa Redden, recently announced the launch of the REVAi in Ireland - a stylish, electric vehicle that is completely pollution-free. Designed for low speed, congested, urban conditions and with a top speed of 75 km/h, the REVAi is aimed at city commuters.

So are the days of the urban SUV numbered?

"We certainly hope so," says Vander Elst. "For us, the SUV basically doesn't make sense in a city environment."

In reality, his ambitions for the vehicle are more modest. Initial sales targets have been set at 60 vehicles a year with expected growth of 20 per cent a year. With the huge rise in two-car families, he says the REVAi makes an ideal second car.

"It won't replace your car because of the range limits. You can only do 80 kilometres on one charge until you have to charge again. It is a run-around vehicle, a second vehicle in the city environment."

The three-door hatchback, which retails at €13,500, can accommodate two adults and two children. According to Vander Elst, it costs less than two cents a kilometre to charge, with the average household electricity bill estimated to be increased weekly by less then €3.50, on the basis of charging at night for eight hours.

"That calculation is based on 300 days a year that you would do a full charge overnight. It is totally realistic," he says.

Originally from Belgium, Vander Elst (25) met Redden (27) when both of them were studying at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business.

GreenAer was devised and founded by the young entrepreneurs during a business trip to India where they were introduced to the REVA electric car company through a contact working as an environmental engineer in Bangalore.

Once the pair heard about the environmental benefits associated with driving such a car in a city environment, they recognised the appeal for such cars in Ireland, where complaints about CO2 emissions were prominent.

"There are two types of customers out there," Vander Elst says. "The environmentalists who strongly believe this is the way forward and then the people who are more sensitive on the economical side and like the savings on petrol and taxes."

GreenAer was set up with an initial investment of €160,000 to cover everything from manufacturing, infrastructure requirements such as shipping, a warehouse/workshop, mechanics, insurance and PR and marketing. The vehicles will be manufactured in India and shipped to Ireland.

"Once somebody is interested, he or she can put a deposit on line and then come and pick it up. It takes about three months from when the order is placed for the car to arrive and be ready to go."

Anyone outside Dublin hoping to get their hands on one will however be disappointed for the time being.

"Because it is a switch for people, we have to provide a great after-sales service and that's why we are only focusing only on Dublin because that's where we are capable right now," says Vander Elst.

But that will change as the company gets bigger, he says. GreenAer aims to establish four other regional servicing workshops around the country following the launch of the Dublin office.

A former marketing and advertising executive, Vander Elst says he always wanted to run his own business and is happy to be doing something that is environmentally friendly.

"It provides a lot of satisfaction for two reasons," he says. "I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but at the end of the day we're doing something good and the other side is just the responsibility.

"If it works it is because of us and if it doesn't it's because of us. It is daunting sometimes but I suppose everybody has to go through that."

Name:Olivier Van der Elst

Age: 25

From:Belgium but now living in Dublin

Education:completed a Bachelor of Science in marketing (honours) from Lancaster University Management School in Britain in 2004. From there, he went on to complete his Masters of Science in contemporary marketing practice at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business UCD, Blackrock, Co Dublin

Background:copywriter with Zions First National Bank of Utah, then became assistant account manager with Richter Advertising Agency where he had complete responsibility for a five-figure radio campaign

Inspired by:Richard Branson

Favourite book:Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts - 900 pages about India.

Most likes to: Sail, play rugby and sports in general and global travel