Three weeks ago, Indian automotive corporation Mahindra & Mahindra announced that it was shutting down its EV branch temporarily due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It also said it was looking for a strategic partner to co-develop the branch with – and now found it, judging by the contract signed with Israeli-based tech startup REE Automotive earlier today.
According to the papers, REE will provide Mahindra with its skateboard chassis and corner-mounted power module designs. In return, the Indian company will help its partner with engineering, logistics and production. Estimated annual production volume in a few years’ time amounts to 200,000 – 250,000 cars.
The REE chassis is a flat automobile platform that lends itself to a variety of car body styles, which can be useful if the marque wants to produce a wide range of different vehicles for different purposes.