Mahindra Electric in talks with global automakers to supply EV parts

Mahindra Electric, which achieved Ebitda breakeven in FY20 for the first time in a decade, expects its EV component business to help it achieve scale and profitability in the near to mid term.

The company is looking to supply EV components both to domestic and foreign manufacturers, including M&M’s strategic partner Ford Motor Company and subsidiary SsangYong Motor Company (SYMC). The move to focus on EV parts comes at a time when Mahindra Electric has been struggling with vehicles sales. The company had sold 14,500 EVs, across three-wheelers and cars in FY20, making under 10% of M&M’s total vehicle sales.

Mahesh Babu, managing director and chief executive officer at Mahindra Electric Mobility, said the company is looking to supply EV powertrain--electric motor, battery packs, power electronics and other critical parts--to vehicle manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, and Korea.

"We will de-risk our India business by supplying EV technology globally. This is in line with making India the global hub for the EV supply chain ecosystem," Babu said. "We are actively looking at various customers. We were talking to a European customer even before covid-19 struck. They had placed an order for EV components..."

M&M has invested ₹1,700 crore in its EV business so far and an additional ₹500 crore is earmarked for an upcoming research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru.

EVs are a developing ecosystem and we want to share our technological know-how with multiple OEMs, said Babu.

"As part of that we have started supplying EV powertrain kits to SYMC (South Korea). We plan to supply our EV components and the customers can either build top hats (vehicles) on the same or we can electrify their existing platforms quickly," he said.

Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, had recently said that Mahindra Electric is one of the 10 subsidiaries that have the potential to become a $1 billion company.

Mahindra Electric had showcased Mesma 350, a scalable and modular architecture with a 350 Volt powertrain, at the Auto Expo earlier this year. Built from ground up, the platform can accommodate electric vehicles of different types--passenger to commercial--to help bring economies of scale and keep development costs down. Mahindra Electric’s Mesma platforms are part of its discussions with several players globally.

The company has three product launches lined up for this fiscal. eKUV, which was first unveiled at the Auto Expo with a price tag of ₹8.25 lakh (ex-showroom), and Treo Zor, an electric three-wheeler with cargo applications, will be launched in this festive season.

It also plans to launch Atom, an electric quadricycle, aiming for first and last mile passenger applications.