Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Mahindra recently launched its first two maiden grounds-up electric SUVs - BE 6e and XEV 9e - as a part of its Born Electric series of six electric vehicles. These vehicles are built on the brand's in-house INGLO electric-first architecture, powered by AI. The vehicles are priced at introductory starting prices of INR 18.90 lakh and INR 21.90 lakh (both ex-showroom), respectively. 

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In order to make the transition to battery electric vehicles smooth for its customers, the company has introduced a new dedicated vertical, called Charge.in. The vertical will have 350+ experts and industry-first dedicated relationship manager to understand the charging needs of the customers and educate them about the vehicle and its charging abilities. 

A relationship manager (RM) will be allotted to a serious prospective customer who will work "very closely" with the customer till the time s/he buys the vehicle, and beyond that till the customer is comfortable with his/her ownership experience. "The RM will understand the charging needs, educate you, get your charging infrastructure in place by talking to your housing society and the power distribution company as well as get you all the required approvals," explained Veejay Nakra, President - Automotive Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and Joint Managing Director, Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited.

The company is also working closely with its channel partners under this vertical, who will do the installation and wiring part for the customers of the EVs. Once the customer buys a vehicle, s/he will have all the charging related information on the Mahindra mobile app to make the ownership experience hassle-free.

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Mahindra has also aligned 500 specialists from luxury and premium brands to provide pre-purchase drive experience to interested customers from December onwards. Around 400 tech experts with dedicated support from Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) will facilitate seamless customer experience. 

The home-grown automaker has allotted INR 4,500 crore investment out of the total INR 16,000 crore EV budget for F22-F27 cycle for the purpose of powertrain development, software and tech enhancement and increasing manufacturing capacity for its electric vehicles. The company is looking at 20-30% of its SUV portfolio to be electric origin SUVs by 2027.