Ashok Leyland’s electric vehicle foray, Switch Mobility is in the final stages of talks with investors to raise funds as the company looks to compete with commercial EV giant BYD
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Ashok Leyland’s electric vehicle foray, Switch Mobility, is currently in talks with investors to raise funding in order to build a global business. The company is looking to compete with Chinese EV giant BYD, said Andy Palmer, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to Mint.
“We are looking for partners that come with a long-term view, understand the way in which we want to build the business and aren’t looking to turn a profit the very next quarter,” Palmer said. The executive added that the talks are close to finishing shortly.
The company’s electric commercial vehicles like buses, vans and more will be taking on BYD (“Build Your Dreams”) and its fleet of electric cars, buses, trucks and forklifts. BYD claims to have delivered 50,000 buses and 12,000 electric trucks globally by just 2015. BYD’s electric bus arm operates in India under the name of Olectra Greentech, a joint venture with Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd.
Switch Mobility is currently planning to launch a series of products to build its commercial EV portfolio with roll-outs in more mature markets to follow till 2025. The company will also focus on improving vertical integration as it looks to transform into a global business by localizing the battery packs and battery management systems at its manufacturing facilities spread across major markets like India, UK and Spain. The Hinduja Group entity currently operates in India, Spain, UK (where it was originally based and known as Optare) but has plans to expand to the South American market.
The company currently has an order book for 6,000 electric buses globally, including 600 in India. Of these, 200 buses are for Mumbai alone, where the company had recently revealed its electric double-decker bus. The company also expects the electric bus market in India to grow from 2,000 in 2021 to 6,000 by next year, according to Mahesh Babu, CEO, Switch Mobility India.
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