Mahindra starts delivery of 'e-Veritos’ under EESL contract

Mahindra & Mahindra has commenced delivery of e-vehicles to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) and has already delivered the first unit of `e-Verito' contracted for under the government's electric mobility programme.

Of the 10,000 e-vehicle tender that EESL has awarded jointly to Tata Motors and M&M, 500 were to be delivered to ESSL before 30 November, as part of the first phase.

Mahindra & Mahindra is the only Indian passenger vehicle maker to have two electric vehicles in production, including  the e-Verito and the e2o Plus. The e-Verito uses a 20.5 kWh electric motor, which has a certified driving range of 170 to 180 km on full charge.

As the terms of the tender by EESL stated, the electric sedan should have a driving range of at least 130 km on full charge and should not take more than six hours to get charged fully. It should also have a fast charge option, that is, within 90 minutes.

Mahindra & Mahindra had quoted a higher price in its e-vehicle bid, leaving only Tata Motors eligible for the contract. M&M, however,  matched Tata's price later to make itself eligible for award of the contract.

After Tata Motors won the tender of supplying electric cars at a price of Rs11.2 lakhs, which is inclusive of GST and a 5-year warranty, Mahindra agreed to match the quote by the Tatas by decreasing the bid amount by Rs2.3 lakh per unit.

However, M&M had said that of the 500 e-vehicles to be delivered as part of the first phase, it would not be supplying more than 150 units as at that price, it would incur losses to the company.

Mahindra delivered the first e-Verito at a ceremony in which the CEO of Mahindra Electric, Mahesh Babu, handed over the keys to EESL managing director Saurabh Kumar.

(See: EESL to float tender for another 10,000 e-vehicles)