Mahindra, MaaS and Baas to boost India’s EV future
You may have heard of SaaS, or Software as a Service. If you have not, you may well be using one or more SaaS offerings – Netflix or Showmax for example. SaaS means that instead of buying a product, you pay a subscription and get to use it. In motoring, there are similar structures, most notably MaaS (Mobility as a Service) and BaaS (Battery as a Service).
MaaS gives you access to a trip in a vehicle, like Uber or self-driving, while with BaaS you can swap your EVs battery for a fresh one. This means that, instead of buying a battery and then paying to recharge it, you simply pay for the electric charge in a battery – a bit like swapping your empty gas cylinder for a full one.
In India, a joint venture called Jio-bp was recently formed between energy giants Reliance Industries and BP Plc. Its aim is to offer a range of energy solutions at a large scale, including MaaS and BaaS, as well as EV charging stations at its wide network of forecourts.
Mahindra will now partner with Jio-bp to explore the creation of products and services as part of its concerted drive to increase its EV offering. This deal involves charging and BaaS for Mahindra’s EV three and four-wheelers, as well as its quadricycles and small commercial vehicles. It will also include Mahindra’s captive fleet and last-mile solution vehicles – essentially EV tuk-tuks.
Although India desperately needs to improve its air quality and its government is pushing hard for increased electrification, EVs are still only a fraction of the total vehicle market. This is mainly the result of high battery costs and poor charging infrastructure.
The partnership between Mahindra and Jio-bp may well begin to address these problems by improving the cost picture as well as the range issue by expanding the charging opportunities. For any energy solution to work, it must be offered everywhere. Like a filling station on every corner.
Mahindra’s stated aim is to have 20% of its vehicles electrified by 2027 and this partnership with Jio-bp may go some way to achieving this goal. You can keep up to date with these and other developments by following our blog.
