Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) will unveil its much-anticipated electric sedan, based on its Verito model, on Thursday. The electric car, which has been under wraps for few years, is expected to churn out about 40 bhp and will come with a range of 100 km. The battery pack will take around take six-eight hours for a full charge. The automaker is also expected to provide a 'quick charge' option.
The latest Verito model will be the second fully-automatic option from Mahindra's stable. The other full-electric model, e20, has a better range of 120 km and is priced at around Rs. 5 lakh.
Anant Rangaswami, Editor of Storyboard, writes: >Tesla will get Anand Mahindra dreaming big
Mahindra, Reva will be watching the Tesla updates closely. Tesla has already heightened the interest on electric cars, which was just a niche category. In India, the price tag forces Tesla to appeal to a miniscule market, but it will end up creating a demand for the electric car among all consumer segments.
Graphic: Sriram Sivaraman
Tesla has boosted the awareness of the electric car in India, and the Mahindra Reva e2o can suddenly find itself in pole position in a difficult Indian market. Priced at Rs 5,00,000, it can even begin to imagine dominating the entry level market, a prize that every manufacturer wants.
Our Correspondent Sanjay Vjayakumar >explains the cost implications
Electric vehicles come in two categories: one is battery electric vehicles that rely entirely on their batteries to provide power and hybrid electric vehicles that have batteries that can be recharged as well as conventional engines as back-up. Sales of electric cars will touch 41 million by 2040, representing a third of new car sales, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Falling battery prices, which account for a third of the cost of electric vehicles, mean that electric vehicles will become a more economic option than gasoline (petrol) or diesel cars in most countries by 2020, the firm said.
Published - June 02, 2016 12:19 pm IST
