Anand Mahindra shares heartwarming story behind Mahindra's first EV, BIJLEE: 'way ahead of it's time'

livemint.com:

electric vehicle created by the Mahindra Group, the three-wheeler BIJLEE. Mahindra noted that BIJLEE was created by a stalwart of the company, Mr Nagarkar before his retirement but the three-wheeler could not find its way in the Indian market and the vehicle was bid adieu to a few after going into production. Sharing the story behind BIJLEE on X, Mahindra wrote, “Today is #WorldEVDay And it has propelled me back into the past.

1999 to be precise, when a stalwart of @MahindraRise Mr. Nagarkar, created our first ever EV—the 3 wheeler BIJLEE. It was his gift to us before retirement.

I’ll never forget his words then: He wanted to do something for the planet. The Bijlee, sadly, was way ahead of its time & we bid goodbye to it after a few years of production. But the dream behind it continues to inspire us & we will not rest till those dreams become reality." Mahindra's heartfelt story about his company's first electric vehicle found widespread support on X with the reaction of users ranging from pleas to bringing back BIJLEE to some users wishing the company success against imminent foreign rivals Tesla and BYD.

Recently, Mahindra had also made the plea to declare actor Shah Rukh Khan a ‘natural resource’ after the success of his latest film Jawaan. Sharing his witty opinion on X, the entrepreneur wrote, “All countries guard their natural mineral resources and mine them and usually export them to earn forex. Maybe it's time to declare @iamsrk a natural resource…"