Mahindra electric car launch at Auto Expo 2010

As we inch closer to the 2010 Auto Expo, more companies are letting information about their products for the event to trickle out. The latest we hear about is the electric car from Mahindra.

Latest Auto Expo 2010 News

To be clear, Mahindra actually used the word “electric vehicle”. Pawan Goenka, Mahindra & Mahindra President (Automotive Sector) said that the company would be showcasing an electric vehicle at the Auto Expo. We are assuming that this is going to be an electric car – and not an MPV or SUV. An electric SUV is a really tough thing to pull off – small cars are where the big market is anyway. Also, as far back as August 2008, it was known that Mahindra is working on a four-passenger electric car. So electric car we think it is, and we are sticking to that. Mahindra has not revealed anything about the expected price of the car, or its specifications and performance. No official photos either. Not even spy photos.

We know that Mahindra has been working on electric and hybrid tech for its vehicles for a long time. But there has been very little information leaking out about this electric car from Mahindra prior to this announcement. No spy shots, no rumours of strange electric cars being tested on the highways – that leads us to believe that the launch would really be an unveiling of a prototype that is somewhat close to a final product. If the Mahindra electric car was really a finished product about to hit the dealerships, we would have heard about it from many sources already.

So at this Auto Expo, we are going to hear a lot about electric vehicles – that is for sure. There is the prototype Tata Indica electric car, the Chevrolet Spark electric prototype, the just announced Hyundai i10 electric and the Reva NXR and NXG. And we are sure there are other vehicles we are missing out on.

Apart from the Hyundai i10 electric, none of the others look close to a launch – but if public interest is clearly discernible at the Auto Expo, we can be sure manufacturers would pull out all stops.

As far as the practicality of the Mahindra electric car goes, it has to be close to the Hyundai i10 electric car to be successful. All the normal electric car caveats about maximum driving range on a single charge, charging period and top speed apply.

We wish Mahindra all the best with the launch of its electric car, and look forward to seeing it at the Auto Expo.