MUMBAI: To promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Friday signed a pact with Uber to provide EVs on the cab aggregator’s platform.
As part of the parternship, M&M’s electric vehicles including the e20 plus hatch and eVerito sedan will ply in Delhi and Hyderabad to begin with and could be later extended to other cities. It may be noted that the automaker has already tied up with Uber’s rival Ola to build an electric mass mobility ecosystem in Nagpur.
“Our collaboration with Uber is an important next step to help accelerate the large-scale adoption of electric vehicles on shared mobility platforms and meet the nation’s vision for EVs,” said Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra.
Driver partners on the Uber app can avail of a package that includes Mahindra electric vehicles at competitive prices, attractive financing and insurance premiums as well as comprehensive maintenance packages from M&M and its associates. M&M and Uber are in the process of setting up a common use charging ecosystem across multiple locations, while M&M will also support driver education and training-related to various aspects of electric vehicles.
“We see a key role for high efficiency vehicle technologies and therefore, believe that this collaboration with Mahindra, the pioneers in the electric vehicles space, will be truly beneficial not just for Uber, but for our driver partners, riders and the cities we operate in,” said Madhu Kannan, chief business officer, India and emerging markets, Uber.
Meanwhile, Goenka said they will ramp up EV production to 5,000 units in 2019. The company is also making progress in assembling batteries, manufacturing of motors and power electronics. “We have invested Rs 500 crore in EV technology till date. Another Rs 600 crore will be invested over the next 2-3 years,” Goenka said.
M&M to bid for EESL tender
M&M has firmed up plans to be in the race for supply of 9,500 electric vehicles (EVs) to state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL). The automaker on Friday confirmed that it would bid for the second stage of the tender to be issued after the completion of deliveries of 500 EVs in the first phase by November 30.
“We will bid for the second stage of EESL tender,” said Pawan Goenka, MD, M&M. They will replace petrol and diesel cars used by the central government in 3-4 years. Earlier, it had said it wanted to take a ‘hard look,’ whether it was justifiable to participate in the second phase matching the lowest per unit price of Rs 10.16 lakh (excluding GST) being offered by Tata Motors. Currently, roughly 4,000 EVs ply on Indian roads translating to nearly 50 million kms of drive