Mahindra Scooters Head On To The Electric Road

Anand Mahindra recently tweeted an image of an electric scooter under development with the caption: “A peek at the electric variant under development.” The photo was taken at the Mahindra Two Wheelers Research and Development facility in Pune.
AutoCar Professional revealed that, as per their sources, instead of investing in a new platform Mahindra Two Wheelers is working on electrifying its existing models. Mahindra recently got into a three year partnership with Ford to cooperatively work on electric vehicles in India, among other things.

It’s common knowledge that Mahindra scooters didn’t fare well in the market despite premium features. The Gusto was probably the only one that did fairly well, despite heavy competition from the likes of the Honda Activa and TVS Jupiter. Other Mahindra models like the Duro and Rodeo however succumbed to the competition. So, it would only make sense to go ahead with the Gusto's platform from the existing models for the new E-scooter.
One can expect this move to pay Mahindra back well. While there are electric scooters from the likes of Hero Electric, there still isn’t as much competition in the e-scooter market as there is in the conventional internal combustion segment. So, if Mahindra manages to hit back with the EV on time with some USP features, it could work in its favour.

M&M is already the sole automaker in India with commercially available electric passenger vehicles like the e20 Plus and eVerito, commercial vans like the eSupro, and a three-wheeler called the e-Alfa Mini. A premium electric scooter named the Genze is also already running in the US. The company is thus already cashing on the first-mover advantage on EVs.

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Hero MotoCorp has also invested in the Bangalore-based startup Ather Energy, that plans on developing India’s first smart electric scooter. Meanwhile, TVS is working on developing an electric vehicle which could possibly be unveiled at the 2018 Auto Expo. Bajaj Auto is also reported to be working on performance-oriented electric two-wheelers that will fall under its new brand, Urbanite. Pune-based Tork Motorcycles is planning to gatecrash the party too with an EV called the T6X.
As you can see there is a lot of action expected in the EV segment. It will be interesting to see what new products the Indian consumers will be offered in the near future.
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