For their line-up of specially designed electric vehicles for institutional buyers, who are looking to meet their needs for last-mile connectivity, commercial vehicle manufacturers are ignoring retail customers.
Two of India’s top three truck and bus manufacturers, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, are in discussions with major fleet buyers, courier delivery services, FMCG companies, and e-commerce and logistics service providers to develop vehicles that meet their needs.
The Tata Ace EV, a small electric truck built on the popular Ace platform and first unveiled in May of last year, is not available to retail single-unit buyers. The vehicle’s users assisted in its development.
Tata Motors wants to test the Ace electric vehicles with big fleet operators first, so the company is unlikely to open bookings for retail customers anytime soon, according to company officials.
Girish Wagh stated “The Ace EV has exceeded expectations and we got a lot of customers joining the bandwagon. Initially, it was e-commerce-led, but now we have almost all the FMCG companies joining in. We have delivery companies, and courier companies who are also very keen on the product.”
While the Ace EV is meeting the needs of last-mile delivery, fleet buyers are seeking slightly bigger EVs with heavier payloads for transporting goods before the last-mile connectivity.
