Rajesh Jejurikar is a happy man. The Executive Director of Mahindra and Mahindra’s Farm and Auto and Farm sectors has seen the company’s first ‘Born Electric’ vehicles, the XEV9e and BE6, cross 30,000 sales since the launch in January. A slight trademark snafu with IndiGo aside, the success of these electric vehicles alongside the runway hit Thar twins has lifted Mahindra into a fierce competition with Tata Motors for the No. 2 spot in the Indian automotive market.
But as Jejurikar and his colleagues never fail to remind everyone, Mahindra is the leader in revenue and profit market share. Something that is reflected in Mahindra’s share price, which has quadrupled in the past five years.
But something was missing from Mahindra’s electric line-up. While car design is a very subjective thing, both the XEV9e and BE6 designs can be described as ‘unconventional’. The ‘SUV-Coupe’ look features sloping rooflines, as well as headlight and taillight designs that seem to be inspired by a space-based television show. “I believe the Indian electric car market was still in the early adopter phase last year. And early adopters want to try something new, different looks, different brands. But for the next phase of growth, as the market will expand, we need something else,” Jejurikar said.
That ‘something else’ was just launched in Bengaluru—the XEV9s. And when you look at its side profile, it looks like the popular XUV700 SUV. It is a three-row seven-seat SUV much like the XUV700, but it is based on the same INGLO electric platform as the XEV9e and BE6.
The boxy design could even be described as conservative, although Pratap Bose, Mahindra’s Design Chief, recoiled at the word. “The 9s is conventional, but still retains some elements such as the front headlight design, which is similar to the 9e. But yes, the 9e and BE6 stand out on the road, they are head-turners and not all car owners want to stand out on the road,” he said.
Of course, the ultimate test of a vehicle is when you drive it, and well, the new XEV9s feels pretty much like the 9e. There are some minor improvements to the driving experience, the new shape affords far better rear visibility through the inside rear-view mirror, and well, the additional weight of the third row over the rear axle does give a palpable hint of body roll when taken through corners a bit aggressively.
But the 9s shares all mechanical components and battery packs with the 9e, so the top variant still has the 210-kilowatt (approximately 280 horsepower) motor and 79-kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack.
As for the interiors, the driving cabin and setup are identical to the 9e. Something that brings me back to last week’s column, where I debated what constituted a ‘new car’. The same triple screen layout, which Mahindra describes as ‘coast-to-coast’, and the same flaws, such as the lack of physical buttons. The fact that Mahindra hasn’t made a tactile button for the hazard lights is a slight safety concern. The 9s has a panoramic sunroof and lacks the inbuilt light patterns.
As for the second and third rows, my stance on third-row seats hasn’t changed, whether it is a Hyundai Alcazar, Toyota Innova, or even the XUV700. These should only be used in a pinch or for children. It’s too uncomfortable for adults. That said, like many other three-row SUVs, Mahindra has added air-conditioning vents and charging points for the last row.
The second row is actually quite nice. The window seats are ventilated and spacious, especially when slid back. Additionally, Mahindra has installed device holders and fast USB-C charging points so the rear seat passengers stay entertained. This is clearly designed and will be sold as a family vehicle. And with the third row fully flat, luggage space is not a problem.
Also read: From old and boring to bold and electric — Honda is finally rediscovering its Indian spark
EV anxieties
The big question with EVs is always the same: range and charging. Mahindra addressed the former with the huge battery packs but let me address them again.
From my experience with driving a 9e for a couple of weeks in and around the NCR, a range in excess of 500 kilometres should be easily achievable on the 9s as well in the ‘everyday’ driving mode. Mahindra doesn’t call their economical driving mode ‘Eco’ but ‘Range’ and from hearing other motoring journalists, a range of 550 and even 600 kilometres might be possible on that mode. In city use, a light user might only need to charge XEV9s twice a month.
Many people hesitate to buy an EV because of concerns about highways. Mahindra is trying to address that by building large ‘charging stations’ across the country, which will have multiple high-speed 180-kilowatt chargers that will be able to charge the larger battery pack from 10 per cent of charge to 80 per cent in just over twenty minutes. “A short coffee break,” Jejurikar said. The first two stations were inaugurated ahead of the XEV9s reveal, including one at Murthal, a popular eating spot on the Delhi-Ambala highway.
There is also a smaller 59kWh battery pack on the base model with a 170 kilowatt (approximately 210 horsepower) motor and a new intermediate 70kWh battery in the middle variant, which seems strange, but there is a specific reason for that—look at the pricing.
On variants and pricing, Mahindra has played its strongest hand, thanks to its massive EV manufacturing facility at Chakan. The base variant ‘Pack One Above’ of the XEV9s starts at just Rs 19.95 lakh. And the funny thing is that it really isn’t fair to call this a ‘base variant’ because it also loads in the coast-to-coast screen and panoramic sunroof.
The top-spec ‘Pack Three Above’ has five radars with ‘Level 2 Plus’ Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), upgradable via its Qualcomm processor. But here is the surprise: this feature set, far superior to some luxury brand EVs that cost over a crore, is available for less than Rs 30 lakh.
Mahindra is so confident about the XEV9s and its ‘conventional’ design and tech appeal that it’s doubling production at its Chakan EV plant to 8,000 vehicles a month.
Jejurikar doesn’t see himself as a price warrior. He believes electrics like the XEV9s and even the XUV700 and Scorpio-N have made Mahindra more ‘premium’ while continuing to be India’s most profitable listed carmaker. Will the XEV9s keep that run going?
Kushan Mitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. He tweets @kushanmitra. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)