Mahindra & Mahindra eyes 3-fold jump in e-vehicle sales, partners Zoomcar

Mahindra Electric expects its electric vehicle sales to jump three-fold this year as it focuses on offering mobility solutions, including partnering with rental firms and cab aggregators.

The company today announced a partnership with Zoomcar, a self-driven car-rental firm, to promote shared mobility of electric cars in India.

"Last year, our focus was to launch new products and this year our focus would be to create mobility solutions with these products, on fleet, retail and shared mobility platform," Mahindra Electric CEO Mahesh Babu told PTI.

The company launched its small electric car e2oPlus, sedan eVerito and passenger and cargo electric vehicle eSupro and sold over 1,100 units last year.

"Overall, (with) what we are doing in fleet as well as retail, we are expecting atleast 3x increase in volume this year on various cars we have like the e20plus, eVerito and eSupro," he added.

Commenting on the association with Zoomcar, he said the "first-of-its-kind association" will enable the company to make green mobility available to a larger audience.

"Currently, the cost of acquisition of an electric car is high and makes retail customers think twice before going ahead and making a contribution towards the environment. With this partnership, we are addressing that issue," Babu said.

It will enable individuals to buy new all-electric Mahindra e2oPlus on ZAP, Zoomcar's fractional car ownership programme.

Individuals can purchase e2oPlus on Zoomcar's self-drive platform, list the vehicle on a dynamic basis whenever idle and get bookings from Zoomcar's customer base and earn cash.

"Through this program, the buyer can save as much as Rs 15,000 per month," the company said.

Zoomcar CEO and Co-Founder Greg Moran said electric cars on shared mobility platforms is the ultimate way forward in solving the urban transportation problem.

"We have seen growing demand for electric cars on Zoomcar in metros such as Bangalore, Delhi and Pune. Mahindra has always been a key OEM partner for us and with this new development, we are taking the association a step further," he added.

The partnership can be extended to 12-15 cities where Zoomcar is present. Mahindra Electric is the electric vehicles manufacturer of the diversified USD 17.8 billion Mahindra Group.

Last year, Mahindra & Mahindra had inked a pact with cab aggregator Ola with targeting an overall vehicle sales and financing of over USD 400 million (Rs 2,600 crore). Babu said the partnership with Ola will include electric vehicles as well.