[TusharK]

Mahindra has announced that it will collaborate with Uber to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) on the Uber platform in India.



In the first phase, Mahindra will supply hundreds of e2o Plus and eVerito electric cars to Uber drivers in Delhi and Hyderabad. More cities are likely to be added at a later date. As part of the partnership, EVs will be offered to driver partners at competitive prices, while Mahindra Finance will offer financing options. Mahindra and its associates will also offer insurance and maintenance packages.



Mahindra and Uber are also planning to setup charging stations by working with public and private players. Mahindra will also educate drivers and provide training about various aspects of EVs.

Link to Team-BHP News

[sri_tesla]

Mahindra also tied up with Zoomcar to add 20 EVs (e20plus) per city in Mysuru and Hyderabad. They have plans to do the same in Delhi and Chandigarh.

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/m0...e-in-Hyde.html

Till recently Mahindra was not really interested in pushing EVs. There is hardly any development and investment happening in their electric car department. Sudden shift towards EVs globally, Govt push for all-electric vehicles by 2030, huge order of 10,000 EVs by EESL and losing that order to TATA who are new to EVs made Mahindra desperate in my opinion.

This is welcome change. Mahindra should really invest more and more in EVs. Tata has Jaguar to share the technology as Jaguar is already developing all-electric EVs to be released in 2018. Hyundai, VW group, Toyota, Suzuki all are investing more in EVs.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by TusharK

In the first phase, Mahindra will supply hundreds of e2o Plus and eVerito electric cars to Uber drivers in Delhi and Hyderabad.

These drivers are going to need to be compensated as their downtime will be more than that of petrol / diesel cars.

Still, having EVs on Uber is a good way to introduce the electric experience to the public. Both the cars also have enough legroom at the back. This is the E2O Plus with the front seat set for a 5'8" driver:

[Vid6639]

Don't know how practical this will be. I don't think drivers will be happy with these EV's. The range is hardly 110kms on the E2O plus and Verito Electric. In bangalore that is equivalent to 1 airport trip. Uber drivers do 200+ kms in a day so these will have a very long downtime.

For 200kms driving they would need to charge twice which is 12+ hours of charge time or more depending on the power source.

I am guessing teh EV's will be on a separate category for short distances only.

[amtak]

@Viddy, I travel to Nagpur very often where this was done on a pilot basis. The response is very good; so much that most of the times, you don't get an EV. Besides that, yes the drivers get some additional revenue for driving an EV.

And it's fun to be driven around in an EV with almost no jerking due to gear changes.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by amtak

@Viddy, I travel to Nagpur very often where this was done on a pilot basis. The response is very good; so much that most of the times, you don't get an EV. Besides that, yes the drivers get some additional revenue for driving an EV.

And it's fun to be driven around in an EV with almost no jerking due to gear changes.

Definitely makes sense in smaller town but larger cities? Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi?

The distances and volume are way more and with the limited range of the EV this will not be easy.

Only way I can see it working is if the trips are short duration around the charging hub.