Mahindra to enter European electric-vehicle market in 2016 with the e2o
Home-grown SUV giant, Mahindra is embarking on an ambitious plan in 2016. The automaker will be entering the competitive European market with its Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles (MREV) range for the first time ever. With demand rising in recent years, alternative-fuel ecosystem is beginning to evolve at a rapid pace. Mahindra, having weighed in on the developments, feel that the European region will be ideal for their Reva range of electric vehicles.
The manufacturer will not be looking at any local-assemblies in Europe, when they begin deliveries in 2016. All Mahindra electric vehicles (EV) sold in Europe will be completely built units (CBU). In the global scheme of things, over ninety percent of the demand for electric-propulsion vehicles comes from the three key markets: USA, Europe & China. Mahindra currently has the capacity to produce over 30,000 electric vehicles, at their existing plant in Bengaluru. The auto-manufacturer is confident that this existing capacity will be sufficient to meet the demand from the European market. Thus, there are no plans at the present to increase production capacity.
On the domestic front, Mahindra recently successfully concluded their ‘Mahindra Reva Goodness Drive’. It involved an expedition of three fully electric, Mahindra Reva e20 cars driving from Kashmir, down to the southernmost tip of the country, to Kanyakumari. Covering a total distance of 5300 kilometres, the three-car expedition touched base with people from 52 locations across the country.
In addition to their export plans, Mahindra is also planning to offer the Reva range of electric vehicles beyond the eight locations that it is available at within the country. The manufacturer is currently in talks with multiple local government authorities over taxation benefits that can be extended to this Green-vehicle.
Existing electric-vehicle owners are hampered by the fact that the support infrastructure (in terms of charging stations & charging points, for example) is virtually non-existent. Thus, demand for electric-vehicles too has remained low. The government is taking small, but critical steps towards promoting the adoption of electric-vehicles for transportation purposes. It has rolled out financial incentives for electric & hybrid vehicles through the FAME (Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric) program. This is under the larger, National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), where the Government has pledged support to the tune of INR 795 Crore over the next two fiscal years.
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