Top Indian Utility Vehicle (UV) manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited has already signed an agreement with Vodafone for availability of mobile connectivity in the new Reva e20. As part of this agreement, the car will be fitted with Vodafone SIM cards, through which information such as battery charge, service requirements and download of remote instructions for maps will be retrieved in real-time. Even the AC can be started or stopped for pre-cooling, using mobile connections.
Naveen Chopra, Director of Vodafone Business services, said that the Vodafone SIM cards will be available at no additional cost for Mahindra Reva e2o customers and the revenue tie-up between the companies would continue to exist. Commenting on the association, Chetan Maini, Chief of Strategy and Technology for Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles said, “We are sure that our association with Vodafone will provide an even greater value proposition to our customers and enable new innovations in this exciting space in the future." He further added, “We are pleased to partner with Vodafone as our exclusive Machine-to-Machine mobile connectivity solution provider. Going forward, connected car technologies will make a difference to convenience and safety, thereby making a positive impact on the way people commute and interact with their cars. We are sure that our association with Vodafone will provide an even greater value proposition to our customers and enable new innovations in this exciting space in the future.” Interestingly, this would also mean that Mahindra would look at creating similar designs for other cars, but no further details are available on this subject.
This is the first time that machine to machine (m2m) services have been installed in a vehicle. Both Mahindra and Vodafone have formed this strategic alliance in order to provide connected machines to the customers. Mahindra Reva e20 is first car in India to offer telematics-based features to its customers, so that 'anytime anywhere' connectivity can be maintained between the buyers and this car.
