MG Motors has taken a decision in the electric vehicle (EV) market by launching Comet Mini at a starting price of Rs 4.99 lakh, which will have a far-reaching impact. Actually, the reduction in the price of the car has come due to the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) strategy. Now you will ask what is BaaS. Actually BaaS is added to the car later when you have bought the car. This allows customers to pay on the basis of kilometer for the use of the battery.
MG Motor has launched a BaaS program for both Comet Mini and ZS EV cars, which makes the starting price of the car cheaper. This move has reduced the starting price of Comet by Rs 2 lakh and the starting price of ZS EV by Rs 4.99 lakh. Buyers who choose this model will pay the battery rent later when they are driving the car. Now understand this with an example, if you have bought Comet, then for this you will have to pay Rs 2.5 per kilometer and for ZS EV you will have to pay Rs 4.5 per kilometer later. Apart from this, charging cost, which is around Rs 1 per kilometer, you will have to pay.
Customers are also offered a 60% buyback value after three years, making the whole deal look decent. The BaaS program was first introduced with the Windsor EV, which was priced at Rs 9.99 lakh, with battery rental at Rs 3.5 per kilometer. However, buyers will have to make a minimum monthly battery payment equivalent to 1,500 km of driving, taking the total cost to Rs 5,250 that customers have to pay after buying the car.
The company says that buying and owning an EV car for Rs 5 lakh is a big deal. MG Comet is priced under Rs 5 lakh, but it is not the first electric vehicle to achieve this feat in India. Reva, launched in 1994 at Rs 2.88 lakh, has achieved this feat. Reva was manufactured by Chetan Maini’s Reva Electric Car Company, which was later bought by Mahindra & Mahindra in 2010. Mahindra launched e2O in 2013, which was priced between Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 8.5 lakh, although now Reva has been discontinued.
The Comet has a range of 230 kilometres on a single charge and can seat four people, although space is limited. The ZS EV, meanwhile, is a 4.3-metre SUV with a range of 461 kilometres on a single charge.