• Home
  • EV News
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Debunking EV FUD
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • Community
    • Discord
PluginIndia Electric Vehicles

Auto Expo 2016 - Focus on Mahindra Electric

6/2/2016

9 Comments

 
By Kamlesh Mallick
We @ PluginIndia were fortunate to visit the Auto Expo 2016 @ Delhi.  And yes, the main purpose of our visit was to highlight the EV offerings in India by established players, medium companies and young startups.
In this blog, we focus on the electric vehicles showcased by Mahindra Electric as they are the only major Indian manufacturer offering electric vehicles in India.

Mahindra Electric
As the only Indian car manufacturer offering electric cars for the Indian market, it was pleasing to see the 3 electric cars and an e-scooter on display.
  • The e-Verito Sedan
  • The e2o sports hatchback
  • The e-Supro mini van
  • Mahindra GenZe 2.0 Electric Scooter 

The e-Verito Sedan
The Verito electric sedan has been showcased way back in 2013.  They still haven't launched this for the Indian market.
Apparently the e-Verito will be launched in 2 flavors, sometime in April this year.
The top-end variant gets a quick-charge port which can be fully topped up in just two hours, but do note this would need a
3-phase connection.  The normal AC charging would happen via a 15 Amp socket and would charge the car in 8 hours. 
100 km of range , great boot space and comfortable seats makes it a very practical EV mainly for cities and that 300-400 km inter city drive - provided Mahindra installs QuickCharge stations.  
​Extremely promising sedan that has great potential in intra city fleets.

​e2o Sports car
Now this one was the most disappointing display from Mahindra Electric.  Why disappointing?  I will come to that.
The e2o Sport is also capable of a maximum range of 200 km on its fully charged 384 V battery.  
​Acceleration of 0-60 kmph at 4 seconds and astounding torque of 180 Nm (Newton meters).

Now, while the numbers are attractive, i'm disappointed at this direction taken by Mahindra Electric.

What was the need for making a sports e2o?  If they wanted to showcase their tech know how they already did 2 years
back with Halo
. What the Indian market needs is another option apart from the e2o - 4 door, more boot space - an electric with the size of, say the old i10. Instead they r showcasing this for which they won't be many takers.  
Mahindra RnD spent 3 years developing this, effort and resources could have better spent working on a next model that actually will be practical and attractive to users to go for an EV.

If they absolutely wanted a sports car, they could have invested time and money in the development of Halo, which was showcased back in 2014.  By now they could have a finished Halo and it could have been ready for export. 
And the EU and American market would prefer a sports car like Halo than this boxy e2o sports thing.  
I can see this 'concept', not going to be produced and sold anytime soon. Even if they do, will there be many takers? I doubt it.

​Mahindra Supro electric
​I was very impressed by this one.  The e-maximo commercial vehicle is now modified and branded as an 8-seater that can also act as a commercial vehicle.  100 km range is very good for point to point good carriers.  Lithium-Ion batteries will make it practical too.  The Supro Electric is powered by a 73.2V AC induction motor that produces peak torque of 90 Nm.
The 8-seater gets disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear. The e-Supro will be launched by this year end.

Mahindra GenZe 2.0 Electric Scooter
The biggie!  We have observed the launch of this product in USA few months back and it was great to see it here!
The idea is to provide comfortable, inexpensive and easy urban mobility. GenZe, which stands for Generation zero emissions is completely designed and engineered in Ann Arbour, Michigan, USA by the startup GenZe backed by Mahindra. 

The e-bike is powered by a detachable lithium-ion battery that can be charged from standard power outlet at one's home and charges completely in 3.5 hours. The open cargo can accommodate 35 kg worth of luggage.  The motor is capable of offering quick bursts of power but tops out at around 50 km/hr.
The Mahindra GenZe 2.0 also incorporates a 7-inch touchscreen display unit which is big. The unit also allows the rider to switch between ride settings including Safe, Econ and Sport, which changes the torque output.
This wont be sold here soon, as it costs $3000 in the USA.  Mahindra would really need to invest in manufacturing here to even have a chance of getting the costs down for the Indian market.

PictureFalse Dawn?
Where is the HALO?
"There is a plan to commercialize Halo, we are working on a bigger powertrain and a final design. It will take about three years to be production ready," Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director, Pawan Goenka said this back in 2014. 
But the Halo was not on display today and 
The Halo sports 2 seater concept had everything looks, power and great features. Its a sports car that could have seriously been exported and also sold to enthusiasts here in India.
​Sadly its another idea gone down the drain?


Mahindra Reva is now Mahindra Electric
How about that !  No more Reva!   The brand change makes sense actually!

Picture
Mahindra are doing the right thing
Apart from being disappointed with the e2o Sport direction/no direction. It is a proud feeling that a major Indian auto maker is offering real EV's to the Indian market.
While other Indian companies like Maruti / Tata keep minting money launching antiquated ICE engine products that do more harm than good.  Its very credible that Mahindra showcases EVs.  That, i felt and appreciated.

We will soon do a follow up blog focussing on the other EV players.  Stay Tuned!
9 Comments
Nanda
9/2/2016 03:00:28 am

Good job Mahindra..

Reply
Johnson
10/2/2016 11:53:16 am

Mahindra will never launch any good EV product unless arm and legs are twisted out of their sockets... because everybody will buy EVs and not their diesel SUVs...

Mahindra has also made it very clear that it will not sell Verito EV... but use it for fleet service (Taxi) and since there is no updated E2O (sports mod is not upgrade)... I stand by my statement that the plug on E2O will be pulled around Year 2018 and Mahindra will state that E2O was the most unsold vehicle in spite of advertising on FM radio.

Mahindra also has been holding back the Commerical Maxximo Van since 2012... maybe they wanted a kick on the backside like Kejri baba gave them see link below...
http://bharathautos.com/spied-mahindra-electric-maxximo-minivan.html

We need politicians who have guts to ban diesel vehicles so that these companies start to release these electric power vehicles. The Paris Pledge has given the EV industry all over the world a big push.

Both Diesel and Petrol are the fuel of yesterday... in future the world has pledge to move ahead with ONLY CNG and Electric ... the earlier these vehicle makers wake up and smell the coffee... the better...

And a Rs 200,000 GenZe that goes the exact same range (60kms inspite of having a lighter battery) of a Rs33,000 chinese bike and yet need both licence and vehicle registration is proof that the Rs 33,000 Chinese bikes were easier... in use and cost.

Reply
Kamlesh
18/2/2016 11:06:14 am

By the way, if you thought e2o is a dud in sales, you will be surprised to hear that e2o is doing way better than - some of the Mahindra OIL cars like - Verito, Verito Vibe (hatchback), Logan etc :)

Reply
Deepak H G
12/2/2016 03:09:26 pm

We wanted E2O with 4 door variant and a range of 200 Kms. There was no need of a sports version. Even though 4 door variant is under testing, not sure it will be sold in India as per the conversation with helpdesk team.

Reply
Kamlesh
12/2/2016 03:17:58 pm

Exactly my sentiments. Apparently the reason they did this was to develop a working prototype while Halo was not working.
So now they have a drivetrain that will power future electric cars.

Reply
Sateesh Reddy
18/2/2016 11:04:28 am

As a long time follower of this site, i am glad to see Mahindra showcasing EVs as compared to other Indian Auto companies.

But they would need to act fast and provide more options to the consumer.
Verito electric is great option and hope to see it soon.

But a 4 door e2o must have been out by now. Its been 3 years and we still haven't seen a hatchback option apart from the e2o.

Also there is no work regarding quickcharge stations. How do you expect customers to buy your vehicles, if you don't create basic Infrastructure? From what i hear an investment of 10 lakhs for few QC stations on the most popular route Mumbai - Pune will help you sell many many electric cars.

This lack of speedy progress is still my concern.

I hope someone from Mahindra can respond here.
We see other companies responding here, but not Mahindra.
Please interact with the community more often.

Reply
Neetu Shah
18/2/2016 11:09:29 am

Way to go Mahindra!
I certain that my next car would be electric. Please get 4 door out soon and a slightly larger frame.

Reply
panchi
29/2/2016 04:47:04 pm

Please can someone pin down community charging stations on a map between mumbai-pune. AND why o why... why is Mahindra now telling about FAST CHARGE. When will we Indians see a Tesla like fast charge station between mumbai pune? E-VERITO looks compeling. but 100kms is very less. what about max speed?

Reply
kamlesh
29/2/2016 04:54:17 pm

Please check the Charging section of the site for details on the stations between Pune and Mumbai.

Yes Mahindra needs to work on Quickcharging stations ASAP to really give an incentive for potential buyers to buy their EVs. We agree.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

Plug in india

About us
Advertise with us
Contact us

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Support US

Get access to exclusive perks
  • Become a YouTube member
  • Become a Patreon

Subscribe to our newsletter

© COPYRIGHT 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • EV News
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Debunking EV FUD
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • Community
    • Discord