Soon after car maker Mahindra announced to provide the component for EVs and cab service with the electric fleet in the pipeline, it has won an order to supply 1,000 electric vehicles (EVs) to Bengaluru-based fleet operator Baghirathi Travel Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
According to a Mint report, the order from Baghirathi, which owns and operates a fleet of 2,000 vehicles in Bengaluru, will exceed the Mahindra’s value by Rs 100 crore. Besides, it will also be the largest EV order so far for the Indian car maker.
Mahindra through its subsidiary Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd will supply such numbers of EVs to 2003 founded company, which primarily provide catering to companies, in addition to schools and inter-city demand.
Earlier, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) had floated two global tenders to procure 20,000 e-vehicles as part of a plan to replace the five-lakh petrol and diesel cars used by the government and its agencies over a 3-4 year period.
EESL is a joint-venture comprising four government-owned power sector entities — NTPC, Power Grid, Power Finance Corp and Rural Electrification Corporation.
In September, Tata Motors won the first government contract for supplying 10,000 electric variants of its compact sedan Tigor, outbidding Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) in the contest for the Rs 1,120 crore order.
Later on, Mahindra agreed to match the lowest bidding pricing for phase I and therefore qualify to supply 150 electric vehicles, as per the tender conditions.
Baghirathi eyes to replace its entire fleet with EVs in the next three to five years. The e-Verito model, to be supplied to Baghirathi, will be in the range extended by close to 30 per cent up to 140km, said Mahesh Babu, CEO of Mahindra Electric. The range of earlier e-Verito supplied to EESL was lower at 110km.
Mahindra’s future plans
The automaker will turn its unit Mahindra Electric Mobility into a supplier of batteries, starter motors, power electronics and transmission to its parent and other vehicle makers.
Currently, it has electric variants eVerito and e2o. It is planning to make electric variants of almost all of its passenger vehicles such as Scorpio, Bolero, XUV and TUV models, among others.
Electric car maker had partnered with ride-hailing firm Uber. It will deliver hundreds of e2oPlus hatch and the eVerito sedan to Uber across several cities in the country. The car maker has also tied up with Zoomcar, a car rental firm.
