Vodafone to power Mahindra e2o's remote lock, air conditioning control and other M2M services

Mahindra Reva Wednesday partnered with telecom operator Vodafone for powering its electric cars with machine-to-machine (M2M) communication services, with which users can remotely lock their car, control air conditioning as well as get emergency boost charge for their vehicle.

"Using an app on their smartphones, users can know how much battery is left, schedule pre-heating or pre-cooling, lock/unlock car door, find the nearest charging station as well as get an emergency boost charge to go an extra 8-10 kms," Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Chief of Strategy and Technology Chetan Maini told reporters Mumbai.

M2M refers to technologies that allow wireless and wired systems to communicate with other enabled-devices.

As a part of the partnership, Vodafone Business Services (VBS), the enterprise arm of Vodafone, will also have access to Mahindra Reva Tech Help Desk, which can remotely do prognosis and diagnostics of the car, he added.

While the app will be maintained by Mahindra, the M2M technology will be supported by VBS in a five-year deal.

"M2M presents a huge opportunity as the market is expected to grow to USD 98 billion by 2018. We have capability to maintain over 10 billion SIMs and are confident of growing business further, especially from segments like automobiles," said VBS Director Naveen Chopra.

The Mahindra group had launched 'e2o' in March this year, almost three years after it acquired Bangalore-based electric car maker Reva.

Priced at Rs. 5.96 lakh (on road Delhi, after state subsidy), the two-door, four-seater car is powered by lithium-ion batteries and a three-phase induction electric motor.