After Windsor, JSW MG Motor now offers battery rental for Comet, ZS EV

JSW MG Motor India on Friday extended the battery-as-a-service programme to its Comet EV and ZS EV models. The BaaS concept was introduced with the launch of MG Windsor.

Fortune India last week reported that the carmaker was evaluating plans to bring the BaaS scheme for its other models to reduce the upfront cost of acquisition of EVs.

While this brings down the high upfront costs associated with EVs as customers do not own the battery, buyers, however, will have to shell out money for using the car.

Customers are expected to pay for at least 1,500 kilometres per month under the battery-as-a-service model, excluding costs incurred on charging the vehicle.

Customers can now bring home MG Comet EV at a starting price of ₹4.99 lakh along with battery rental of ₹2.5 per km. Similarly, MG ZS EV will be available with price starting at ₹13.99 lakh and battery rental at ₹4.5/km.

“With BaaS, we have created a platform for easy ownership, making our EVs more accessible than ever. Given the strong response to Windsor under the BaaS programme, we are now extending its benefits to our popular EV models, the Comet and ZS. I am confident that this unique ownership model will further boost EV adoption in the country,” says Satinder Singh Bajwa, chief commercial officer, JSW MG Motor India.

The BaaS programme is supported by a network of finance partners, including Bajaj Finserv, Hero Fincorp, Vidyut, and Ecofy Autovert.

JSW MG Motor India is the country’s second-largest electric vehicle maker after Tata Motors. With the launch of Windsor EV, JSW MG Motor India is targeting over 50% EV of its sales to come from EVs within this calendar year. Currently, 35% of its sales come from battery electric vehicles. The carmaker now has three EVs and three internal-combustion engine cars in its portfolio.

Explaining the rationale behind BaaS at the launch of Windsor EV, Parth Jindal, director of JSW MG Motor India, says majority of car sales in India happen under ₹10 lakh. "We want EV penetration to increase in this country. We don’t think we can do that if we play only in the higher price segment. We need to play in the ₹9-₹11 lakh segment, which is a big segment in the country," says Jindal. "We don’t want to sell just 1,000 cars a month at ex-showroom price," the Jindal family scion says.

“With Windsor EV, MG Motor wants to compete with cars costing around ₹10 lakh. That is our ambition. We want this not to be only a Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata Hyderabad and Chennai phenomenon. We want to go to Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4. We want EVs everywhere in this country. The only way of doing it is under the battery-as-a-service model,” says Jindal.