New Delhi : Singapore’s state investment company Temasek will invest Rs 1,200 crore in Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited, the four-wheeler passenger electric vehicle unit of India’s automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M). The company informed the stock market on Thursday that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Temasek to invest Rs 1,200 crore in Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited (MEAL). In this context, the valuation of the electric vehicle unit comes to Rs 80,580 crore. M&M Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anish Shah said that Temasek’s investment is another step towards implementing their strategy for electric SUVs.
Mahindra Electric Automobile was known as Reva Electric Car
Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited was earlier known as Reva Electric Car Company. Its headquarter is located in Bangalore. Mahindra Electric Automobiles is involved in the design and manufacturing of compact electric vehicles. The company’s first vehicle was the Revai electric car, which was available in 26 countries. As of mid-March 2011, over 4,000 different models had been sold worldwide.
Mahindra acquired in 2010
Reva Electric was acquired by Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra in May 2010. After the acquisition, the company launched the electric hatchback e2o in 2013. Today the company sells electric vehicles in various segments. These include the electric sedan eVerito, electric commercial vehicle eSupro (passenger and cargo) and the Treo range of low-maintenance lithium-ion battery powered three-wheelers. Recently Mahindra Electric became the first Indian carmaker to cover 170 million kilometers in its fleet.
Reva Electric was established in 1994
Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) was founded in the year 1994 by Chetan Maini as a joint venture between the Maini Group of Bengaluru and Amerigan Electric Vehicle Technologies (AEVT Inc) of the US. The sole objective of the company was to develop and produce an affordable compact electric car. Not many other automakers were aiming to do the same, but in 2001, RECC launched the REVA. REVA is an acronym for Revolutionary Electric Vehicle Alternative.
When the company manufactured the charger
RECC joined hands with several automotive experts to develop components for the Reva car. Curtis Instruments Inc. of USA developed a motor controller specifically for the car. The car had a power pack, for which Tudor India Limited supplied customized Prestolite batteries. The charger for the Reva was developed by Modular Power Systems (a division of TDI Power) of the USA. Later RECC started manufacturing the charger itself through a technical collaboration agreement between MPS and the Maini Group.
REVAi launched in 2008
In 2004, Goingreen of the UK entered into an agreement with RECC to import Reva cars and sell them under the G-Wiz moniker. In the year 2008, a new model of Reva was launched, which was called REVAi. The company began production of a lithium-ion model in 2009 called the Reva L-Ion. After this, at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Reva presented its future models Reva NXR and Reva NXG. During the event, Reva and General Motors India announced a technical collaboration to develop an affordable EV for the Indian market. As a result, General Motors India announced an electric version of its hatchback at the 2010 New Delhi Auto Expo, called the e-Spark. In this, Reva was to provide battery technology.
Reva-General Motors agreement broken after acquisition
On 26 May 2010, India’s largest sports utility vehicle and tractor manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra acquired a 55.2 per cent stake in Reva. After the deal, the name of the company was changed to Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Private Limited. Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra’s automotive business, became the new chairman of the company. The ownership change resulted in General Motors pulling out of an alliance with Reva, which was to produce the E-Spark.