Mahindra Hires 900 Engineers To Bolster EV Research - Report

Mahindra may have been a little late in the booming EV space (barring older EVs from the brand), but the homegrown car maker is determined to make up for lost ground. While we await for Mahindra to unveil its strategy for the electric vehicle market next month, it has been gearing up to launch its first electric vehicle based on the 'born electric' platform.

Also Read: Mahindra Drops The First Teaser For Its Born Electric Vision

By 2027, Mahindra plans to have 5 electric SUVs in its line up, those being 4 all-new EVs and the eXUV400, which is an elongated electric version of the XUV300 subcompact SUV. To help achieve this, Mahindra & Mahindra has reportedly hired 900 engineers at its engineering and R&D centre in Chennai, the Mahindra Research Valley (MRV). This number adds to the existing tally of 2,400 engineers in the R&D centre, and will aid in the expansion of the centre to design and develop new electric products.

Mahindra Electric's R&D base in Bengaluru was the hub of EV engineering until recently, and though Mahindra & Mahindra is expanding the MRV, the Bengaluru R&D centre will continue to play a supporting role for developing EVs. "We have our EV track in Detroit too, and they also do one of the programmes for us. In the UK, we have the design centre led by Chief Designer Pratap Bose. The styling happens there. Rest of the engineering, the architecture, happens here (MRV)," R Velusamy, President, Automotive Technology and Product Development, M&M, told ETAuto, confirming that M&M's engineering base in Detroit - Mahindra North American Technical Centre - will continue contributing to the 'Born Electric' SUVs, along with Mahindra Advanced Designs Europe (M.A.D.E.) in the UK. Mahindra reportedly may also set up a satellite engineering centre for electronics in Coimbatore, as the demand for software and electronics continues to grow in the auto industry.

Also Read: Mahindra To Source EV Components From VW For Its Born Electric Platform

Despite the expansion of the MRV, Mahindra is still looking to collaborate with other EV makers to source components. Mahindra has also partnered up with Volkswagen, and the German automaker will supply components to Mahindra from its MEB platform.