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Vehicle electrification - localised EV platforms
What it is
Dedicated born-electric architectures designed and engineered in India, rather than EVs adapted from existing ICE platforms or built on licensed foreign architecture
Examples now in production include Mahindra's INGLO underpinning the XEV and BE ranges, and Tata's Acti.ev platform behind the Harrier and Sierra EVs, paired with an in-house software layer supporting OTA updates
Impact on industries
- Purpose-built packaging delivers better range, interior space and cost than a converted ICE platform, which is why domestic EV share is concentrating in these two manufacturers
- Owning the architecture keeps design, software and supplier decisions in-house, and lets one platform amortise across several models
- Cells, power electronics and much of the software stack remain imported, so a locally designed platform is not yet a locally sourced one
- Not all localisation is equal - one leading player has licensed a foreign platform for its premium EVs, a faster route to market that trades away long-run architectural control