MG s EV Push Gains Traction : MG Motor India is hopeful that 1 out of every 3 of its new electric vehicle — Windsor EV — will be sold through its innovative Battery-as-a-Service, or BaaS, model in the months ahead as it partners with more financiers to offer the car under the new scheme. Sales made via the BaaS model now account for roughly 15 per cent of Windsor’s sales. MG’s third EV has sold over 10,000 units in just three months with 18,000 bookings pending, according to a senior company official.

And it possibly is because of two reasons: A saturation for an EV model in the face of retarded demand in this space, as also that a good part of this demand is coming in from tier-3 and tier-4 towns like Panipat, Sonipat and Bathinda. Through BaaS, the company, which is owned by SAIC Motor and JSW Group, feels that it has discovered the best course of action to boost EV penetration in a price-sensitive market such as India.

What is BaaS

In simple terms, BaaS works as an EV battery subscription plan. This lets the Windsor be offered for a lower entry-level price as it excludes the cost of the battery. Under a monthly pay-per-usage plan, the customer pays for the battery. As the battery amounts to 40-50 per cent of the total cost of a conventional EV, BaaS can dramatically lower the upfront cost of EV ownership by removing the battery from the upfront cost of the vehicle. The company has partnered with financiers and offers customers opting to buy through the route a flexible payment option. Under the BaaS offering, customers can purchase the car (without the battery) for a starting price of around Rs 9.99 lakh, whereas with the battery sold as a bundled product, the price starts from around Rs 13.5 lakh.

I think it’s a very unique thing (BaaS model), especially in India.” If you give Windsor, I am saying (its price is) Rs 10 lakh plus battery. The combined cost of battery rental and charging is 50 percent of the cost of using petrol. So, you spend less on maintenance (compared to a petrol-fuelled car) and the acquisition cost of it is Rs 10 lakh. Normally a Rs 10 lakh budget in cars means small cars overall. But here you are getting a big car, you know a (Hyundai) Creta-sized car… So suddenly the whole concept changes,” Rajeev Chaba, the current CEO Emeritus of JSW MG Motor India told The Indian Express in a recent interaction. Chaba was previously the company’s President and Managing Director.

MG calls BaaS a battery rental system, but, really, it is a finance product for the battery. Thanks to BaaS, the company has been able to launch the Windsor starting at an aggressive price tag of Rs 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom). Battery rental is charged at 3.5 per kilometre with a minimum monthly usage of 1,500 km, varies according to the option of financiers and increases with higher-cost hours on the car.