Q. What are some of the main technology pillars on which Mahindra & Mahindra wants to build its new EV story?
EV is a very different story where many things play together. There is a commonality, which we call commons. And there is flexibility, which we call flexible elements that are primarily not modular. Now, our ability to differentiate what needs to be common and what needs to be unique decides the success of this platform.
For example, the platform where you mount the battery has to be absolutely common, because you cannot develop many batteries. It’s a very expensive affair and a very safety-critical part. It is also critical to the performance and driving range of the vehicle. Therefore, the suspension, the quarter corner units, the steering unit, the brake unit, the e-motor, on-board charger and converter, the battery, and everything you attach with the mechanical and cooling system tyou make common. Fundamentally you make the platform common, and then try and bring multiple top hats on top of it.
You can have varying heights, for example, 1550 mm to 1750 mm, and lengths between 4.4 metres to 4.8 metres. The number of seats can be in two rows and three rows. Then the ground clearance, of course, we have to keep it up for the Indian requirements.
Q. Battery is the heart of an EV, and also the single most expensive component. Why Lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP) to start with? Is it for more safety or because the dimension of an SUV allows enough space for it to compensate for its lower energy density?
In the long EV play we want to have, there could be changes in GST rates and the incentives. Many other changes may happen as the EV production ramps up and its market share increases. We need to survive these. If we need to survive, we need to have a cost efficient battery system. That’s number one.
LFP gives a credible, significant 10% to 15% cost advantage at the cell level. The second advantage is the availability of raw materials. For example, lithium carbonate, electrolytes, aluminium, copper, graphite, and iron phosphate are its fundamentals. The raw material availability is far better for LFP than that for Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC). Our supply chain will not be choked, and we will be insulated from the raw material price inflations once we secure the supplies.
The third advantage is that for a hot ambient like that of India, LFP has an advantage and for a cold ambient NMC has an advantage. Not that NMC cannot work in hot climates and LFP in cold temperatures, but the natural style of the chemistries is that NMC is for cold and LFP for hot climates. So, we said why don’t we use these advantages? But we have both, LFP and NMC.
Q. Is M&M looking at leveraging the inherent torque characteristic of an electric powertrain to pitch performance as a key USP of the born electrics, considering that 220 HP is the least powerful of the upcoming electric SUVs?
In the EV, power matters. But more so is the torque, starting with the start of the vehicle, at about 10 rpm or so you can quickly ramp up the torque, and reach the peak torque of up to 70, 60 or even 50 kmph also depending on the transmission ratio. In the ICE vehicle we have a problem in terms of torque during the initial acceleration. 0 to 50 kmph, the torque is limited by the turbo lag, and things of the air intake system and the fuel flow. And that’s where you wanted an acceleration. From 0 to 50/60 kmph you wanted a quick acceleration. So, the EV brings the thrill because you have very high torque. The torque comes down at one point but by then the motor RPM increases and the power compensates.
We have always been focusing on power if you see in our SUVs. Of late we brought the handling and ride comfort into our tuning, and Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) to our tuning to provide an overall high quality driving experience.
Q. Mahindra’s born electric journey is also an example of collaboration at work. The automotive industry with the electrification megatrend is becoming increasingly collaborative. What are the prospects for the M&M-VW collaboration? Could there be joint development of new products also?
We have to enter into definitive agreement and we have the terms of agreement as announced. A lot of discussions take place along the way. Much of that will be taken up and elaborated later. But what I can say is that, we are working with them for the Modular Electric Drive matrix (MEB) electrical components. We want a very high quality source, and the supply chain commitment.
One of the reasons is that, in the ICE vehicles demand has been far higher than what we planned. It went off the roof and we doubled our capacity but we also faced supply chain problems. Supply chain assurance is the key for the battery motor and electrical components. And therefore, this time, we want to be absolutely sure in terms of supply chain, and quality too.
Q. An efficient supply chain becomes all the more crucial for the growth of the overall EV ecosystem. For electrification, this global mega trend also provides India an opportunity to be a globally leading hub with the potential scale of all segments in the automobile industry. The Indian ecosystem, to be self-reliant, is still some time away. Where do you think India stands currently? And what are the gaps that need to be filled for the industry to move ahead better, faster?
I think the government is doing extremely well with regards to EV. Who would have expected the kind of incentives like the GST being at 5% when for an SUV of 4.7 meters, it is 48%? And, there is the PLI scheme for advanced cell chemistry. And the government is really chasing us to come in and put a cell factory. They’re contacting us and talking to us. Really encouraging. Then we have all the advanced technology- related localisations. There’s also a PLI for electric vehicles. I mean, the state government-related incentives like road tax, registration fee etc. The intent is quite clear. It’s just that it takes time to gear up the complete ecosystem to go to EV, and we, as responsible OEMs, have to migrate ourselves while taking care of the current business. We should revitalise ourselves and quickly move forward to EV, and that’s what we are doing. And the whole effort of Mahindra in unveiling the series of EVs is based on that approach.
Q. Do you think India’s electric PV industry can be among the top three countries, not only as a market but also as a manufacturing ecosystem for EVs?
It can. The internal consumption and the internal need for EVs are very high. About 70% of our fossil fuel is imported for mobility, and therefore, there is a credible IRR on EVs. Infrastructure has to be put in place and the government is working on it. Now, can it become a global hub for EVs, like it became for small cars? There are mainly three things that we need to watch out for here.
Electric vehicles offer multiple other things. It offers a software- defined vehicle where you can keep defining your features when the vehicle is on the go in the road. So you have a concept of software flashing micro services, and how well we gear up ourselves using our software manpower in India, how well we are able to restructure our complete ECU communication system, CAN network system and the structure of the ECU, how well we are able to bring in the software features that allow us to bring in every week new features to the vehicle, and keep it refreshed. That’s one part of it. The world is moving towards that. And our ability to do that will determine whether we can become a major hub. Then the number two is the complete production of the battery-related components, battery system, related components and motor electric components, and the charger and all. So there are high voltage system components and there is electronics hardware, high power computing system.
The low voltage, high computing power systems and high voltage electrical hardware plus battery systems plus motor systems should be localised. That will secure the EV industry’s future, plus we should be able to pay higher levels of GST. I mean, if you pay 50% GST it goes to our building the future for our kids, the infrastructure, roads and railway stations, airport, healthcare, and so on. So, the government can provide an incentive for a while, but we should prepare our industry for being able to support the society, right?
Right now the government and the society are supporting the EV industry to grow. But for India to become a global hub, it has to stand on its own supporting the people and society and government in the form of GST plus others. We cannot expect incentives to come for a long time. And therefore, it is so vital that all those components have to be localised, bring down the cost and create multiple innovations that attract customers both the local and the global.
The third piece is the advanced driving system and safety which comes inherently with the software-defined vehicles. How far we progress in these three things, and the ability of OEMs to crack these different frontiers of technology, will determine whether we become a global player or remain a domestic industry.
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