Tata Motors and MG Motors Roll Out "Battery as a service" Scheme

India's top electric vehicle maker, Tata Motors, lures consumers with free charging and steep discounts. At the same time, rival MG Motor has launched its first battery rental plan, in strategies aimed at propping up sales of clean cars.

The use of electric vehicles (EVs) has grown rapidly in recent years to account for 2% of India's annual sales of 4.2 million cars. Still, sales growth is now faltering, which analysts blame on high prices and lack of charging facilities.

"We want to make electric vehicles affordable," Satinder Singh Bajwa, chief commercial officer of MG Motor, said at an event to launch the firm's new EV with a battery rental service, the world's first of its kind.

"You are paying for the battery usage as you pay for the fuel," Bajwa added. The firm, a joint venture of India's JSW Group and China's SAIC, is attempting to make one of the cars' most expensive components affordable for buyers.

The "Battery-as-a-Service" plan will effectively cost 3.5 rupees (4 U.S. cents) a km, though customers will need to pay for a monthly minimum of 1,500 km (932 miles) in the scramble to ensure a low initial acquisition cost.