Switch Mobility, Ashok Leyland's electric vehicle arm, plans to produce around 3,000 units per year of its IeV series electric light commercial vehicles and has already invested Rs 100 crore in developing the products, according to Mahesh Babu, CEO of Switch Mobility, on Thursday. He commented on the sidelines of the IeV series launch, whose delivery is set to begin in January 2024.
According to the plans, manufacture will take place at Ashok Leyland's Hosur site, which will undertake some contract manufacturing of the vehicle, while Switch Mobility will do the assembly of its EV parts. The IeV series will be built on a modular architecture, thereby allowing it to accommodate a wide range of applications and scalability.
"We are planning to make about 3,000 vehicles per year initially. However, since it is the same line (as Ashok Leyland), we can scale up easily to multiple thousands between diesel and EV. Hence, it can be scaled up quickly if the situation demands it," Babu said, emphasising that scalability of the products.
The investment is part of Ashok Leyland's Rs 1200 crore commitment to Switch Mobility, which already has a footprint in the United Kingdom, Europe, and India. Last fiscal year, the company boosted its market share in e-buses to almost 20%, up from 3% the previous year. It currently has an orderbook of about 1500 plus e-buses, which are expected to be delivered over the next 18 months.
Talking about the IeV series, Babu continued that the segment will target categories such as cargo, containers, garbage vans, and refrigerated vans, among others. "All of it will come in a year's time with multiple variants on the same modular platform.