BluSmart Willing To Buy 10,000 Maruti Suzuki WagonR EVs, But There's A Catch!

India's largest electric ride hailing company, BluSmart Mobility has big plans for the coming years. By 2025, the company plans to invest around $ 1 billion to expand its fleet and operations, and will be having over 1 lakh vehicles in its fleet from 685 cars as of now. That said, the biggest challenge coming its way is the limited number of affordable options in the EV four-wheeler space. And that's why Anmol Singh Jaggi, Founder & CEO, BlueSmart Mobility, is looking for something like an electric Maruti Suzuki WagonR. Jaggi says he is even willing to write a cheque for 10,000 units at once if he can get the EV for not more than Rs. 6 lakh per unit.

Also Read: Tata Motors And BluSmart Mobility Collaborate To Expand EV In Delhi-NCR

BluSmart EV signed a procurement deal with Tata Motors for 3500 EVs.

Maruti Suzuki has been testing the WagonR EV for the last three years in India, but it has prioritised CNG and flex fuel vehicles over EVs, and plans to launch the WagonR EV not before 2025. BluSmart is looking forward to closing the fiscal year 2021-22 with over 2,000 cars in its fleet after having signed a procurement deal for 3,500 cars with Tata Motors. Two of the most affordable EVs in India - the Tigor EV starting at Rs. 12 lakh and the Nexon EV starting at Rs. 14.24 lakh come from the house of Tatas but the EV aggregator is looking for something even more affordable, or at almost half the rate.

Also Read: Electric Ride-Hailing Platform BluSmart Completes 16 Million Emissions-Free Km In Delhi-NCR

All-Electric Ride-Hailing Platform, Blusmart will expand to Tier 1 cities next year.

BluSmart Mobility has some aggressive fund raising plans and over the next few months, BluSmart will go beyond Delhi-NCR to enter two more Tier 1 cities. Now, besides the fact that a plethora of affordable combustion engine powered vehicles are available in the conventional fleet car market, majority of them run on CNG which is frugal to run and CNG is easily available in Tier 1 markets.

In case of EVs, lack of adequate charging infrastructure and range anxiety is still a major drawback. In terms of business feasibility, BluSmart will be charging Rs. 10 - Rs. 12 per km from its customers if it's able to procure EVs at around Rs. 6 lakh. If the same EV is procured at higher cost of around Rs. 12 lakh, the rate will increase to Rs. 17 to Rs. 19 per km which will be equivalent to or more than what cab aggregators are charging for petrol or diesel powered vehicles. Then, EMIs for expensive EVs goes up as well which in-turn hampers their business case.