NEW DELHI: JSW MG Motor fired fresh competition in the EV space by driving in a mid-sized SUV Windsor with an entry price Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom), minus the battery cost, which would be provided on a nominal pay-per-use rental of Rs 3.5 per km.
The battery-as-a-service model (BaaS), which is not there in market so far, tries to avoid loading the hefty price of the battery on the customer, to ensure affordability.MG’s financing partners will monitor monthly km run of car through telematics. The battery offers a range of 331 km on a single charge.
The move by MG, which wants 50% of its sales from electrics such as ZS SUV and Comet mini, comes at a time when segment leader Tata Motors is going strong with new products and aggressive pricing and others, such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, and Mahindra & Mahindra, are planning a flurry of green cars. Tata had on Tuesday announced cuts of as much as Rs 3 lakh on Nexon EV, Rs 1.2 lakh on Punch zero-emission version.
Parth Jindal, director of JSW group (which has partnered MG’s Chinese parent SAIC for a JV in India), said the company wants to focus on new-energy vehicles (NEVs) as it moves towards sustainable mobility, against the internal combustion engine (ICE) petrol and diesel cars. “The Windsor is the first car that has come out of the JV and the team has worked very hard in developing and bringing it here… As a crossover utility vehicle, it merges the comfort of a sedan with expanse of an SUV.”
By lowering acquisition cost through the battery rental model, JSW MG Motor hopes to attract buyers, who are still on fringes when it comes to adoption of electrics. The Windsor comes with a lifetime battery warranty to the first owner, an assured 60% buyback after three years or 45,000 km and one-year of free charging at public chargers.
Rajeev Chaba, CEO Emeritus of JSW MG Motor India, said demand for electrics remains encouraging and buyers will opt for greens as more models get launched and affordability rises.
“The Windsor will certainly invite newer sets of customers to try EVs. To enable this, we have created a clear channel for smart and unique ownership through the BaaS programme and complemented it with additional benefits. With these initiatives, we are addressing the barrier of incremental upfront cost of owning an EV and supporting easy and hassle-free ownership.”