M&M bags orders to sell 20,000 units of electric three-wheelers for Rs 4 bn

Mahindra Electric Mobility, part of the Mahindra Group, is looking to become a volume player in the electric mobility space with the launch of its electric three wheelers. 

The company is partnering shared mobility service companies for bulk sale of these three wheelers. 

It is aiming to sell about 20,000 units to two such companies — Three Wheels United and SmartE – valued at approximately Rs 4 billion, over the next one and half years.

The pioneer in domestic electric vehicles (EV) space has also started reaching out to auto rickshaw associations to pitch its electric three wheelers, Treo and Treo Yaari. “We will have to work with partners who have a belief in electric mobility like we do and also find a value proposition in it. We will go into partnerships for sales before going for retailing because EVs need an ecosystem and it will be easy to develop that with a partner,” said Mahesh Babu, CEO of Mahindra Electric. The company today partnered SmartE, a national capital region-based shared electric mobility firm to sell 1,000 units by March 2019, followed by another 10,000 units over the next 18 months.

The running cost of these three wheelers is just Rs 0.50 for every km, the company claimed. With the current FAME subsidy, the driver of these three wheelers will be able to save Rs 2,000 to 6,000 per month even after paying a higher EMI for the additional price over a CNG or LPG vehicle. Looking at the benefits, I am sure many customers will come in, he added. “We are engaging with the auto rickshaw unions in Bangalore and Delhi. They are also showing a keen interest in electric mobility.”

Mahindra Electric, in November, tied up with Three Wheels United, which runs in Bangalore, Hyderabad and other locations in South India for a large number of three wheelers. SmartE has a presence in the North and worked in e-rickshaw. In both these cases, we see the potential of selling at least 20,000 units, he said.  

On the range of these vehicles, Babu said there is a certified range and also a range declared by the company. The Treo, which is an electric auto rickshaw, has a certified range of 170 km but our declared range is 130 km. “One can comfortably be able to cover 200 km in a day with about one charging.” In case of Treo Yaari, the e-rickshaw, the certified range is 129 km but the declared range is 85 km.

Three wheeler is a volume game, he said. “The business plan is based on the FAME subsidy, forex and volume. We will definitely not sell at a loss. But in the initial stages, we will do a lot of work in the market to make and create the market. Our focus will be on creating new ways of mobility without losing money. By next year, we should be operationally okay,” said Babu.