Maruti Rolls Out Scheme To Encourage EV Adoption

MSIL, which currently has a subscription service that allows customers to lease its petrol-run and strong hybrid vehicles on a flexible, long-term basis without ownership commitments, will introduce a leasing service as well.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), while expanding its charging infrastructure and service network ahead of the eVitara launch, will introduce a scheme allowing electric vehicle (EV) customers to lease petrol or strong hybrid cars for short periods to address concerns about using EVs on long intercity drives, Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Partho Banerjee told Business Standard.

“We are conveying to the customer that there is nothing to worry about if you just have an EV at home. You need to buy just one EV and leave all your problems to us. This is what we want to convey,” he said at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025. 

“Today, for most people, an EV is never the first vehicle at home. It is always the second or third vehicle. We want it to become the first vehicle. There are many fence-sitters. We would like them to jump to the EV side,” he added.

MSIL unveiled its first electric car, the eVitara -- a premium sport utility vehicle with a 2,700-millimetre wheelbase and over 500 kilometre (km) range -- last Friday at the expo.

Banerjee said that by the car's launch, the company will have prepared 1,500 existing service workshops across 1,000 cities to handle EVs and set up fast chargers every 5-10 km in the top 100 cities.

“People may or may not be buying EVs in the 1,000 cities, but we will be ready with our EV-ready service workshops. This is also being done to assure customers that the EV can be the primary car of the household," he noted. 

He mentioned that the company would offer a “subscription service” if EV customers still had concerns.

“A customer anyway goes outside the city on long trips just a few times during a year. We are giving you a solution if you have a concern... If a customer residing in Delhi has to go to the hills for a vacation, they can take a petrol-run or strong hybrid car like the Ertiga from us using our leasing model. Your EV can stay at home in Delhi while you visit the hills using the leased vehicle,” he said.

He clarified that EV customers will only pay for the days they use the petrol-run or strong hybrid car.

“We want to instil confidence that you do not need two vehicles in your home. Our EV itself is enough,” he said.

MSIL currently has a subscription service allowing customers to lease its petrol-run and strong hybrid vehicles on a flexible, long-term basis without ownership commitments.

For the new leasing service, the company will utilise the vehicle bank it developed for the current subscription service. More than 10,000 units are already deployed under the current subscription service.

For its EV customers, the company will also launch an 'e For Me' application (app) that will provide information about available chargers and allow customers to make payments directly through the app.

The company also plans to assist its EV customers with the installation of home chargers, which will have a capacity of 7.2 kilowatt-hour.

By the eVitara's launch, MSIL will have its public charging infrastructure ready in the top 100 cities and EV-ready service workshops in 1,000 cities.

“The top 100 cities comprise 97 per cent of the current EV industry. In these 100 cities, we will have an EV charger every 5-10 km. We will work out the placement of these chargers. These chargers will not be limited to our dealerships," Banerjee noted.

On EV-ready service workshops, he said: “We have mapped the areas within a 250-km radius of spots where we sell most of our vehicles. We are ensuring that 1,500 service workshops in 1,000 cities are EV-ready. These workshops will also have charging facilities for emergency usage.”

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com