I will remember 12-13 July 2025 as two very special days of my life. As a kid, I’ve lived, breathed, and loved cars
BHPian ferrarirules recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Preface – My room walls were adorned with car posters, read auto magazines (before teambhp), watched F1, went to auto expos – a passion that has only grown stronger with time.
Two and half years back, I bought an EV and I found a new passion towards electric mobility. Being part of EV community, I have got to meet a lot of like minded people. Recently there was a post by GTO inviting BHPians for a behind the scenes at Mahindra Reasearch Valley (MRV) and Mahindra SUV Proving Tracks (MSPT). I was excited, I told it to my wife she said you should go and you should not miss on such an opportunity (Oh boy!! She was so right!!!). I quickly sent in my interest and in a day I got the confirmation that I could be part of the event. Immediately, booked my tickets to Chennai from Delhi. I made sure the flight was earliest to reach and last to leave the next day.
- I got to meet the some of the best engineering minds of the country
- Experienced and understood what it takes to research, develop and produce world class electric vehicles
- Got to met fellow BHPians and mods. It is always nice to put faces to name.
Day 1
- Left home at 3 AM to catch a 5:20 AM flight. The flight was uneventful and reached Chennai on time
- Reached the hotel and we were greeted by the Mahindra team and teambhp mods. They asked if we wanted to get to MRV early and we were more than happy with that.
- Hotel and MRV were near by so a quick drive and we were at MRV. We were greeted by more Mahindra product development folks
- The event was to start at 12 PM so we had a good candid conversation with Mahindra team on the EV sector and how it is shaping up.
- As the time went on slowly others started trickling in, a lot of BHPians who were from Bangalore drove down to Chennai. We got our badges for the event.
Me with Bhpians ashishk29, purohitanuj, darkgamer (L to R)
- After everyone had arrived, It was time to deep dive into the Mahindra Research Valley and the role it plays in Mahindra’s product development
- We were taken through presentations on-
- Conceptualization of MRV
- INGLO platform which is the platform of the BEVs
- MAIA which is the software driven vehicle (SDV) platform for the BEVs
- After the presentation, there was an opportunity of question and answers for BHPians with the Mahindra leadership (all department heads were present for the discussion). The leadership answered all questions in detail and were open for feedback as well.
- It was time to meet Mr. Velusamy R (President – Automotive Technology & Product Development) who had spared an hour (which he extended) out of his busy schedule. He listened intently and gave true honest answers. He made sure that he got individual feedback from the three BHPians owning Mahindra BEVs.
After the presentations and discussions, it was time to experience behind the scenes of the research facilities. Mahindra has multiple labs in MRV for Engine, NVH, Fatigue, Polymer Technology, Battery testing, Electric Powertrain Testing and Vehicle Systems Integration. We did not get access to all the labs due to ongoing confidential projects and time constraints.
We got to see the two important labs from Mahindra BEVs standpoint
- Vehicles system integration
How this helps – As these are software driven vehicles, Mahindra can run scenarios based tests, regression tests to test newer version of the software before they go to production
BE6 Test Rig
This lab also has the audio testing lab which works on integration of speakers and camera with instrument cluster and infotainment
- Battery and Power Train testing
- Water test
- Fire test
- Vibration test with charging and discharging of battery
- Thermal test by putting the battery under extreme cold or extreme hot temperature and simultaneously charging and discharging to the battery’s limits
- Thermal and Vibration test can be run together as well
Power train testing lab tests the electric motor at extreme heat and extreme cold temperatures
- This marked the end of the lab tour, we had some snacks and tea/coffee. The candid discussions with Mahindra leadership and the team continued
- Reached the hotel. We rested for a while and we were back down for dinner with BHPians and some of the Mahindra leadership. Got to interact with other BHPians over dinner. When you get auto enthusiasts together the conversations just flow. The conversations with Mahindra team also went on till late, asking questions, providing feedback and the Mahindra team didn’t stop listening.
- Reluctantly we bid goodbye to everyone as it was an early morning start next day as well.
Went off to sleep thinking if Day 1 was this cool how cool would Day 2 be! Read on..
