By Hercules Rodrigues
On the occasion of Earth Day, Mahindra Electric the electric vehicle arm of Mahindra & Mahindra and Meru a tech enabled cabs service provider has announced a collaboration for a pilot project to be launched in Hyderabad with the intention to replicate the same model in other cities soon. The pilot will see Meru deploy a fleet of eVeritos, the all-electric sedan by Mahindra.
Speaking on the collaboration Mahesh Babu, CEO Mahindra Electric said, “As pioneers of electric mobility, we at Mahindra Electric are happy to lead electric fleet adoption in India and are glad to partner with Meru for pilot deployment of eVeritos in Hyderabad. This is going to make it easier for the city to adopt EV technology and will also be in line with our constant endeavour to make EVs more accessible to a larger urban population. We believe that innovative and unique partnership models like this pilot, will lead the way towards sustainable transportation in urban cities. We are now looking forward to working with Meru to have this project rolled out to more cities.”
The Mahindra eVeritos will be available for booking in Hyderabad through Meru’s mobile apps, website (www.meru.in), call centre (4422-4422), and will also be available at the Meru Zone at Hyderabad airport. The services will be available at the same fare as governed by the Telangana Government’s radio taxi fares for sedans.
Power for Mahindra’s EVERITO Sedan comes from a 3 Phase 72V induction motor which gives out 30.5KW output and 91nm torque. The electric motor comes coupled to a single speed gearbox and transfers power to the front wheels of the sedan.
Mahindra Electric has been pioneering the EV movement in India for close to a decade, while Meru has been running their entire fleet on green fuel for the past 11 years in cities where CNG is available. Both organizations have been taking conscious steps towards environmentally friendly practices and this association is in sync with these philosophies.
Speaking on the new initiative, Nilesh Sangoi, CEO, Meru said “Electric Vehicle ecosystem is growing at a rapid pace towards the inflection point where it would soon bridge the viability gap. EVs’ potential to bring down the air pollution levels and savings in country’s energy bills is unparalleled. Government is actively promoting adoption of EVs through National Electric Mobility Mission and other initiatives through various ministries. We are launching a pilot in Hyderabad with Mahindra eVeritos sedan cars in association with AimGreen. Based on the learnings of this pilot, we will expand this initiative to induct more EVs in our network in other cities that we operate in. Over next 4 years, we intend to move major part of our fleet to EVs. We believe that this initiative will greatly benefit the society, consumers and also enhance the earnings of our driver partners.”
About Meru:
Meru pioneered the concept of tech enabled ride hailing service in India in 2007 in association with True North (formerly, India Value Fund Advisors), a premier India centric Private Equity fund. Since its launch, Meru has served over twelve million customers in 24 cities. Meru service is available for travelling local and outstation destinations, both as point to point as well as hourly rental packages through its Android and iOS mobile apps with 5+ million downloads, website and call centre. It is the only government licensed cab service in India which is official partner of all the private airports in the country. Meru has received numerous accolades from the industry including India’s Most Favourite Cab Service and Best Cab App by TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice for 2 consecutive years; Times Travel Award, NASSSCOM CNBC IT User Award for 3 consecutive years and Economic Time’s Most Promising Brands award
About Mahindra Electric
Mahindra Electric, a part of the USD 19 billion Mahindra Group is a global pioneer in the development and production of electric vehicles. Mahindra Electric is India’s only EV manufacturer with indigenously developed EV technologies that have won global accolades. The Mahindra Group has one of the most diversified portfolios of electric vehicles with the e2oPlus hatch, the eVeritos sedan, the eSupro minivan and panel vans and its electric rickshaw, the e-Alfa Mini.
Pushing the limits of technology and innovation, Mahindra has acknowledged the need to redefine mobility at every step. This has led to a vision with a desire to transform; a vision which provides an imagination which is more sustainable and more dependable. Venturing into the paradigm of alternative technology has helped Mahindra enable a clean, green and a smarter tomorrow.