The Mahindra Group – a $17 billion IT and vehicle manufacturing firm in India – will now produce a line of two-wheeled, all-electric vehicles out of a 37,000-square-foot Ann Arbor facility.

The group unveiled its new GenZe electric vehicle today at a press conference with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder at its facility at 1901 E. Ellsworth. Mahindra also announced its new North American Technical Center in Troy, which will act as a headquarters, of sorts, for some of its North American operations.

Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group, said that it was Snyder’s passion to reinvent and his passion to build a place for the future that made Michigan the right fit for Mahindra to locate its technical and manufacturing facilities.

“Michigan provided us the perfect ecosystem to step up our U.S. presence. We were able to draw on the terrific automotive engineering and manufacturing talent available in the state, to create industry leading initiatives for the United States,” Mahindra said.

“The North American Technical Center and GenZe represent important disruptive product incubators for the Mahindra Group. Constant innovation focused on improving the lives of our consumers, employees and the communities they impact is at the core of Mahindra’s ‘Rise’ philosophy and we are delighted to see this come to fruition in the United States.”

The two-wheel electric vehicles – which were designed, engineered and will be built in Ann Arbor – will cater to city living and college towns, said Terence Duncan, head of consumer engagement for Mahindra.

“This is a product that was designed for urban environments and designed for university students. It’s intended to be a supplement to the various transportation options you have,” he said.

“If you take an environment like Ann Arbor – which is typical for what we’re aiming for – you’ve got students that live on and off campus and farther away from campus. So what we needed was a product that allowed students to bring all of their stuff with them. What we have is kind of like a two-wheel pickup truck.”

The vehicle has top speeds of 30 miles per hour, so drivers won’t need special endorsements on their licenses in order to operate them. Charges last up to 30 miles and the battery packs are removable and can be charged intermittently in any standard wall outlet.

Additionally, every vehicle comes equipped with a 7-inch Cruise Connect touchscreen display panel that gives all vehicle information – battery life, speed, range, etc. – which can be fully integrated with users’ cellphones, allowing for Internet and mobile app connectivity.

The vehicle also has extra-large rear storage capacity, adjustable seating and digital device charging.

Duncan said that the company will launch a brick and mortar location in California later this year, but the product – which will cost about $3,000 – will be available for order online with shipment expected for the fourth quarter of this year.

“No one has ever ridden a two-wheeler like this before. It’s not like riding a motorcycle or a scooter. It feels much more like riding a bike,” he said.

“We want to experiment with some marketing techniques, but what we’ll have are these vans that will be like satellite, pop-up stores, where we’ll have the vehicles out at, say, a Whole Foods or somewhere on a college campus, and people will be able to ride them and test them and feel them. That’s the only way someone’s going to buy it or get the full experience.”

The number of jobs that will be created from the vehicle’s production, Duncan said, will be determined by the demand for the vehicle. Mahindra said that there are about 60 people currently working in the Ann Arbor facility, and more than 40 in the Troy technical facility.

Snyder said that the company was given some incentives in terms of grants totaling “several hundred thousand dollars for each project.”

“In addition to talent, which I view as our number one priority, are things like the tax environment. When I came into office Michigan was ranked 49 and we’re ranked ninth now and we’re still improving…. By helping companies succeed, they create jobs and we win together,” Snyder added.

“We welcome global leaders like Mahindra to Michigan and applaud them for their product and engineering leadership. Hi-tech green manufacturing and (research and development) has been the cornerstone of our partnership and job creation initiatives and we are pleased to have the Mahindra brand grow its U.S. presence from Michigan.”

The Ann Arbor facility has the capacity to assemble up to 9,000 vehicles per year, with the ability to ramp up to 20,000 vehicles if needed.