Will the U.S. buy Reva NXR, 120 miles per charge for $25,000?

Reva Electric Car has a lot to prove.

The India-based company announced a deal with Bannon Automotive to produce 20,000 Reva NXR’s a year at a New York facility. The site could be fully optional already by fall 2010.

But check out Bannon’s Web site: http:/bannonautomotive.com. This sure doesn’t look like a technologically savvy company ready to hire 200 some employees and produce thousands of electric vehicles a year.

Although Bannon has already announced plans to start manufacturing the vehicles, the Long Island company has yet find all the financing, according to http:/syracuse.com.

And are there really people out there looking to invest in a $25,000 car that will get a maximum of 120 miles per charge? Apparently there are in Europe, where the car is already being built. But just because it’s possible in the crowded streets of Paris, doesn’t mean there’s hope hear in the New World.

The $17,000 version of the Reva NXR would only go 55 mph and get 50 miles on a charge. The hatchback model would cost up to $8,000 more but peak at around 100 mph and 120 miles per charge. This doesn’t really compare to hybrids like the Chevy Volt, also expected out in 2010, which promises 40 miles of gas-free driving before the gas motor kicks in. Of course the much-anticipated Volt doesn’t have a price yet. But assuming it doesn’t start much over $30,000, I’m betting most consumers will see it as having more bang for their buck.

And even before financing is complete, New York Gov. David Paterson is incentivizing the project with taxpayer dollars to the tune of $6.8 million, with the federal government kicking in $52 million in loans and loan guarantees to Bannon. That’s quite a commitment to a company with about a dozen words on its Web site.

Yes, with high unemployment the government should be in the business of job creation. But no, officials shouldn’t jump at underdeveloped ventures.