Zoomcar-Mahindra electric car fleet reaches Hyderabad

Self-drive car rental company Zoomcar has partnered with Mahindra group's e-vehicle arm to roll out 20 e2oPlus, Mahindra’s all-electric smart car in the city of Hyderabad.

Mahindra Finance will also help Zoomcar to procure loans for electric vehicles.

Zoomcar, which is planning to expand its self-drive car rental service in newer cities as well as to explore other Asian and African markets is eyeing to raise $50 million from new and existing investors, including Mahindra and Mahindra.

Mahesh Babu, CEO, Mahindra Electric said, "Today, in collaboration with Zoomcar, we have introduced the e2oPlus on the self-drive platform in Hyderabad. Through this initiative, we will provide a way for the people of Telangana to experience the many benefits of EVs, reported ET.

Earlier, this month, Zoomcar, a self-drive car rental company, in partnership with Mahindra and Mahindra launched electric vehicles (EVs) in Mysore, Karnataka, which is expected to replicate its services in Delhi and Chandigarh soon.

Since its inception in April 2013, Zoomcar claims to have made almost 9 lakh trips in 25 cities with a ticket size of about Rs 4-6k on an average. It also says that it has more than 20 lakh registered users across the country with 3000 fleets.

The company is in talks with various state governments to solve the regulatory issues around having a commercial licence for a private car.

Mahindra Electric is also offering fast-charging services to enhance the EV experience for Zoomcar's customers, with fast charging compatible vehicles.

However, EVs have some challenges and lack a proper ecosystem in India like not enough charging stations. And it requires charging of around 6-10 hours for full charge. At present, M&M has about 80 charging stations across 10 cities.

Also Read: Self-drive car sharing platform Zoomcar announces cycle sharing service

The Bengaluru-headquartered company is also betting big on Zoomcar Associate Program (ZAP), which allows people buy cars and lease it to Zoomcar for running it as a self-driven rental car, for the next round of growth.

According to the company, its ZAP major revenue stream model will help the company achieve its target. Over the next few years, the car rental company is targeting to spread its reach in 30 cities in India with a fleet of 25,000 cars for which its ZAP would account 85-90 per cent.

In August, the car rental platform successfully launched its one-way intercity travel where a user can pick up a car from one city and drop it to another.