Mahindra expresses disbelief over the bid price submitted by Tata which won the contract to supply EVs to the government.
Mahindra, the pioneer in making EVs (electric vehicles) in India couldn’t believe the bid price submitted by Tata Motors, which won the contract to supply 10,000 EVs to the government. “We find the price quoted by Tata Motors hard to comprehend,” says Mahindra boss Pawan Goenka.
Tata Motors will supply 10,000 units of the Tigor electric in two phases, the first 500 cars will be supplied to EESL in November 2017 and the rest 9500 electric vehicles will be delivered in the second phase. The Safari-maker had quoted a price of Rs. 11.2 lakhs each including GST and a 5-year warranty, while Mahindra had quoted more than Rs. 13 lakhs.
The first part of the order was for 500 vehicles of which Mahindra had agreed to match Tata’s price to supply 150 cars, or 30 percent. The company also had the right to supply 40 percent of the remaining 9500 if it matched Tata’s price.
Mahindra is of the opinion that their product is larger and specifications of the vehicle go beyond the stipulated requirements. The company isn’t aware of the specifications of the Tigor electric. The Scorpio maker has two electric cars in its portolio, the e2oPlus and e-Verito.
Tata Motors is working on a new plant at Sanand where only EVs will be manufactured. It has been over 3 years since the company started working on its EV journey. Tata Motors European Technical Centre (based in the UK) revealed the Manza REEV (range-extended electric vehicle) demonstrator vehicle in May 2014. The Tiago EV was recently unveiled and the company is also working on an electric version of the Nano to cater to the taxi market.
The salt to software conglomerate will partner with local startups and enterprises to identify opportunities to localise global technologies to make EVs more affordable.
Tata Motors EV Price
– Tata will supply 10,000 EVs to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)
– Along with Tata and Mahindra, Nissan had also taken part in the bidding process
– Mahindra says the price quoted by Tata was significantly lower than its bid
