Scoot Adds Hundreds Of Electric Scooters To Its Fleet

Scoot  is a ride sharing service in San Francisco that has been in business since 2012. The heart of its operation is a fleet of electric scooters. Parking in major cities is always a problem, but it is especially bad in The City By The Bay. With Scoot, you simply pick up a scooter wherever you are, ride to where you are going, and leave it. Simple, convenient, and it is all done using a smartphone app. Scoot also has a limited number of Renault Twizy electric cars available.

Scoot has recently received a new round of funding thanks to Mahindra Partners and Vision Ridge, an investment firm that focuses on sustainability. The money will be used to add hundreds of Mahindra GenZe 2.0 electric scooters to Scoot’s fleet. Scoot founder and CEO Michael Keating sees the new funding as a clear sign of success. “We are proving that electric transportation can be both affordable and profitable,” he says. “We now have the vehicles and resources we need to scale the business, thanks to our partnership with Mahindra and the ongoing support of our earlier investors.”

Since the service began, Scoot riders have ridden more than 1 million zero emissions miles. Since the scooters are limited to a top speed of 30 mph, they are not considered motorcycles by the California DMV. That means riders don’t need a motorcycle license to operate them. Scoot offers a number of pricing plans and options for residents, depending on how often they use the service, but visitors to the city can obtain a 2 day Visitor Pass that provides access to the fleet. The electric scooters are great for running errands or getting anywhere in the city. They can even carry up to 75 pounds in the rear storage area.

Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, managing partner of Mahindra Partners, says: “Scoot’s service is both consumer friendly and ecologically sustainable. The problem they are addressing is global in nature and will grow in importance over the next few decades with the continued concentration of populations within dense urban centers.”

Part of the new money available to Scoot will be used to expand the ride sharing service to other cities, although the company has not released details of its expansion plans. We’ll have to wait to see which cities will be the next to get emissions free improvements to urban livability.

Source: Autoblog, CleanTechnica

Mahindra Plans Low Cost EV For British Drivers

Mahindra means diesel powered tractors for most Americans. But the giant industrial manufacturer from India is also keenly interested in the EV market. It already fields a team in Formula E, the international racing series for open wheel cars. Unlike Tesla, which wants to build its electric car company from the top down, Mahindra is more interested in starting at the bottom and working its way up.  It will begin selling it no-frills e20 electric car in the London area soon.

The e20 EV is priced between £10,000 and £13,000, which is equivalent to about between $14,500 and $18,500. It has a maximum range of 75 miles. Its price is about half that of a Nissan LEAF in England. While the LEAF is a larger, better equipped car, half price is still a powerful sales tool.

Arvind Mathew, chief executive of Mahindra’s electric vehicle business, tells Enland’s The Standard, “We want to take [electric cars] out of the elitist market and make it more of a run-of-the-mill thing. Our product is really designed for city commuting, not for long distance driving.” He adds, “Our foray into the UK is purely electric, so it’s a big deal for us because as a brand we don’t exist. From the Mahindra group perspective, this is a huge deal.”

The target market for Mahindra’s E20 EV is young families looking to buy their second car. The e20 will only be available online and it will be delivered directly to the customer’s home. Repairs will be done at home by a fleet of mobile service vehicles. After sales begin in London, the company plans to expand sales to other British cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, and Milton Keynes.

Mahindra’s entry into the UK market started badly when it bought a company called Reva in 2010. Reva manufactured an EV known as the G-Wiz. A perfectly dreadful little car, it was the butt of numerous jokes on Top Gear. Mahindra will be swimming upstream against a tide of negative publicity for a while before customers begin to accept the e20 as something other than a rebadged G-Wiz.

Small urban commuter cars are part of an enormous market worldwide. They are much in demand in China, especially in rural areas where luxury motor cars are less important than basic transportation. By starting at the bottom of the market, Mahindra is following in the footsteps of some other manufacturers who have gone on to modest commercial success — companies like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Kia.

Note to Elon Musk: He who laughs last, laughs best. Don’t be too quick to dismiss Mahindra and its diminutive EV. At least not yet.

US auto dealers sue Mahindra & Mahindra over diesel pickup and SUVs

A group of US automobile dealers filed a lawsuit (Case 1:12-cv-01935-TWT) on 4 June with the United States District Court, Northern District Of Georgia, Atlanta Division accusing the Indian truck manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd. and its US counterpart of fraud, misrepresentation, and conspiracy. The lawsuit alleges that Mahindra duped US auto dealers with promises of diesel light trucks and SUVS and then walked away with more than $60 million in cash and trade secrets.

Mahindra told the dealers that its light trucks and SUVs were ready for delivery to the US market. However, Mahindra intentionally delayed certification of its vehicles after obtaining the dealership fees and trade secrets, and began pursuing other partners in the U.S. and elsewhere in clear violation of their commitments.

—attorney Michael Diaz, the managing partner of Miami-based Diaz Reus & Targ

The mass tort lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta (#KH199170-3) against Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd, and Mahindra USA, Inc. by dealerships in New Hampshire, Florida, California, New Jersey, and Washington. Dealers across the country paid initial dealership fees, undertook marketing on Mahindra’s behalf, built Mahindra showrooms, display platforms and showcases, and hired additional personnel, all at Mahindra’s urging, according to the lawsuit.
Mahindra obtained $9.5 million in fees from the dealers, according to the lawsuit. For two years following, Mahindra continued to reassure the US dealers that its certification process was on target, while in fact it was delaying submitting its documentation to regulators as a pretext for terminating its agreements, according to Diaz.
In a statement on its website, Mahindra & Mahindra said that it unequivocally denies all allegations of fraud, misrepresentation and conspiracy.